SKILLS HANDBOOK

2015 /16 edition ver 0.1

Published 25 May 2015 by SAHB Publishing (Pty) Ltd, Reg Nr: 2015/014644/07
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About this publication:
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FOREWORD
From the Editor
I consider editing and co-authoring the Skills Handbook a
huge responsibility.
This work brings me into contact with a diverse range of
specialists, officials, professionals, workers, practitioners,
researchers and innovators whom few other people get to
meet collectively in the same space of time. As a result I get
a birds eye view of the most exciting and highest potential
breakthroughs in the field of skills development in South
Africa.
In response my aim is to:
link up people and organisations in order to amplify their
efforts
Picture: Copyright Pieter de Ras
Note on the cover:
The 2015/16 Skills Handbook is published in memory of the
workers who died in Marikana on 16 August 2012 and in the
hope that skills development and good HR practices can play
a part in preventing such a tragedy from ever recurring. Thank
you to Pieter de Ras for permission to use this photo.
Note on copyright:
This book is published under Creative Commons license.
Please re-use fair-use portions of the information in this book
free of charge, if you are a non-profit or government agency.
Alternatively reference the content of the book, citing this publication as source in the format shown on the inside front cover.
Include the version number because paragraph numbering
changes with each version.

communicate and simplify what is happening so that

practitioners on the ground can get the benefit of this
information as simply as possible
surface high potential projects and approaches which
may otherwise not reach mainstream awareness
offer my perspective on future potentials in this space,
and how we can get there
As a small business, my ability to deliver on the above is limited. For this reason I am grateful to my sponsors, advertisers,
and everyone who buys a copy of the book.
I would like to ask that you to help me in this work by using the
social media at your fingertips to tweet, blog, like, mention
and otherwise communicate the information you personally
find meaningful in this book.
This book is the collective work of all South Africans trying
to create a better future, as well as our friends and supporters from countries in Africa and around the world. We have
learned so much here in South Africa as we have pioneered
new approaches to skills development and workplace learning, and we have so much more to give than we often realise.
Lastly if you find any mistakes, omissions or just have
something worthwhile to add to the book, please email me:
mike@SkillsHandbook.co.za with the details. While the book
is in electronic format its a lot easier to incorporate these
additions.

Mike Stuart
Editor
Johannesburg, South Africa
25 May 2015

For rapid, short updates please follow me on Twitter:

@mpgstuart.

FOREWORD
From the South African Board for People Practice
South Africa is a land of contrast and in no other country in the
world do we have so many dichotomies, not only in society,
but also in its skills development system. It is a system of
extremes from world class, well-resourced and sophisticated training centres at the top corporations on the one hand,
to rural areas in which no or little learning infrastructure
exists on the other hand. Skills development practitioners
are confronted with the need to simultaneously incorporate
seemingly opposing learning philosophies ranging from informal learning to formal learning, from class-room learning
to e-learning, from rich theoretical approaches to practical
work-based learning. Yet, the inequality in skills development mirrors the inequality in society, and the need for effective and meaningful skills development in South Africa
cannot be over-emphasised. However, the business need to
ensure a skilled workforce enabled to deliver their best for
their employers and customers has become one of the most
important factors in leveraging talent and skills development
for driving organisational performance in an increasing competitive business environment.
The Skills Development Handbook, now in its 15th year has
become the definitive annual resource for skills development
professionals and business leaders in South Africa. The SA
Board for People Practices (SABPP), the HR quality assurance
and professional body, has been on an exciting journey to develop the first national HR standards in the world. Learning
and Development (L&D) has been one of the 13 HR standard
elements. In addition, a further five L&D Professional Practice Standards were developed in 2014 to support and reinforce the HR system. These standards were Learning Needs
Analysis, Design and Development, Learning Evaluation,
Mentoring and Coaching, Leadership Development and Onthe-Job Skills Development. In this way, SABPP has provided
leadership to the skills development community in applying
these standards in practice. Likewise, as an Assessment
Quality Partner (AQP), SABPP supports all efforts to improve
the quality assurance of qualifications registered in the new
skills development system, an area well covered in this text.
The Skills Handbook achieves what no other publication
has attained, and that is to mediate the diverse approaches
outlined above into an integrated and synergistic resource
catering for the needs of multiple stakeholders from government, to learners, to employers, to learning providers, to
consultants, regulatory agencies and professional bodies.
We encourage all readers to use this handbook as a rich resource for improving skills development at work, at learning
2

centres, in industries and in society at large. The successes

we achieve in skills development over the next five years or
so (2015-2020) will to a large extent determine the success
of the National Development Plan (NDP) working towards a
total transformation of South Africa as an economic success
story by 2030. I invite all active stakeholders in the skills development system to rise to the occasion and to play the best
possible role in accelerating business-driven skills development for the benefit of learners, organisations, industry and
society as a whole. The exciting opportunity to embrace is
that a winning nation is a skilled nation. Conversely, a losing nation is an unskilled nation. Deciding which route to go
depends on a collaborative approach to skills development
one that truly empowers learners to deliver their best for
their organisations and the country.

Marius Meyer
CEO
Johannesburg, SA
25 May 2015

FOREWORD
From the Department of Higher Education & Training
The publication of the Skills Handbook 2015/16 comes one
year after our Department published the White Paper for
Post-school Education & Training, providing a clear strategic
vision for this sector for the period up until 2030. At the centre
of the White Paper is building an expanded, effective and
integrated post-school system.
Education and training remains the most effective weapon at
our disposal as a nation to deal with poverty, unemployment
and inequality, as espoused in the countrys National
Development Plan. Platforms like the Skills Handbook
present an important launch pad for all interested players in
skills development to interact with developments, successes
and challenges on this front.
Since the launch of the NQF in 1995 with the SAQA Act, this
country has invested a huge amount of energy and time in
working and re-working effective approaches to education
and training, so that we could unravel the systematic damage
done to our collective human capital, over the past centuries
under apartheid. And once we have done that, to go on to
become an engine and inspiration for inclusive development
on this continent and wherever inequality exists.

Achieving this objective will greatly enhance the employability

of our youth who are often rejected from employment for lack
of work experience. The National Skills Accord also has the
potential to bring more highly motivated and engaged youth
into the skills pipelines of employers who embrace this
approach. Most importantly, it provides our education system
with a useful resource against which to check its relevance
in the world of work. In the final analysis, the quality of our
education output will be as good as the input of industry and
employers who play their part through workplace based
training.
While government can set an example and issue legislation,
we cannot solve unemployment, poverty and inequality on
our own. Join with us in this collaborative partnership to solve
our countrys developmental challenges and strengthen our
economic well-being. Use this publication to understand the
plans, programmes, participants, processes and acronyms,
of the skills development system so that together we can
achieve more than we ever can on our own.

We are well on the way to seeing the fruit of all this hard
work. Though it is sometimes hard to see the wood from the
trees when you are inside the forest, we must sometimes pull
back and observe our progress from an objective distance.
Visitors and researchers from other countries help in this
regard by observing both the huge scale of our challenges
and also the success we have achieved to date. That is not to
say that there is no work still remaining. On the contrary we
who are at the fore-front of the skills struggle are the first to
admit that there is no time to waste, and no margin for error.
We recognise our historic responsibility to ensure that South
African society is skilled and educated.
I am glad to see on the cover of this book the tagline Every
workplace a learning space.
This has been a key motto of our Department and it implies
a close partnership between workplaces and institutions of
learning. Our department, together with organised labour
and organised business stakeholders have agreed in the
National Skills Accord signed in July of 2011 to promote
expanded access to training opportunities in both educational
institutions and workplaces.

Dr Blade Nzimande, MP
Minister: Higher Education & Training
Pretoria, SA
25 May 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRE-ORDER EDITION

The Pre-order Edition is available for download on pre-ordering the Print Edition of the Skills Handbook. It is updated approximately monthly and a new download link will be emailed to you whenever updates are available. Pre-ordering the Print Edition
entitles you to all updates of the Pre-order Edition until your Print Edition is available. To view the full list of articles available in
the Print Edition, see the pages following: Table of Contents: Print Edition.

FOREWORDS

TABLE OF CONTENTS (PRE-ORDER EDITION)

TABLE OF CONTENTS (PRINT EDITION)

CHAPTERS

13

ARTISAN DEVELOPMENT....................................................................................... 16
ARTISAN DEVELOPMENT - FUNDING.................................................................. 26
ARTISAN DEVELOPMENT - HISTORY OF............................................................. 32
NAMB - NATIONAL ARTISAN MODERATION BODY........................................... 38
SETA SECTOR - GRANT REGULATIONS, AMENDED........................................ 41
SETAS - FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICES SETA FASSET............... 46

PROVIDER INDEX (BY SPECIALISATION)

49

PROVIDER INDEX (ALPHABETICAL)

93

CONTRIBUTOR BIOGRAPHIES

94

CONTACT DETAILS OF SETAS

95

ACRONYMS

96

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRINT EDITION
The Print Edition covers 249 topics presented as 1 - 6 page articles, in alphabetical order, like an encyclopedia. The mind maps
below show how the topics are structured in heirachical order. Not all topics are shown in the pages following, as the maps
would not fit. To view the detailed mind maps of the topics, visit www.SkillsHandbook.co.za and click on Table of Contents.

TOP LEVEL VIEW

The topics are grouped into five main areas: plans, programmes, parrticipants, processes and people.

PLANS
Strategies and Frameworks are the two main sub-headings. Lists is a useful collection of tabular data and its placement here is
somewhat arbitrary. The strategies and frameworks listed here should ideally inform the programmes and process that follow.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRINT EDITION

PROGRAMMES
In this edition we are focusing on artisan development programmes and workplace learning programmes. Funding programmes are covered under Processes > Funding.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRINT EDITION
PARTICIPANTS (SECTORS)
We see participants as being comprised of organisations and sectors. While the SETA, TVET and HE sectors are squarely
the responsibility of the Department of Higher Education & Training, the green sector and public sector are national priorities
due to their impact on the environment, job creation, and service delivery. The public sector employs about 1,3 million people,
34,000 HR practitioners and spends about R4 billion per year on education and training.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRINT EDITION

PARTICIPANTS (ORGANISATIONS)
There are a multitude of organisations working in the post-school sector. Raising awareness of their focus areas and capabilities
is one of the aims of this publication so that duplication and overlap can make way for synergistic relationships.

10

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRINT EDITION
PROCESSES
We have grouped all skills development processes here, but notice that they have national, sectoral, organisational, and personal levels of application. This map can also be seen as representing the learning value cycle, starting with planning, moving
to funding, then design, delivery and quality assurance. A quality loop hopefully results in quality assurance informing better
planning, which restarts the cycle . Quality assurance is also ideally embedded in every part of the value chain.

11

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PRINT EDITION

PEOPLE
These are interviews with people who play important roles in the skills development landscape. We interviewed them looking
for expressions of vision and leadership to help refine the why and how of skills development. Some are leaders, some are
implementers. We are always on the lookout for practical visionaries to interview, so please contact us (page 1) if you have
suggestions.

12

CHAPTERS
INTRODUCTION

What follows this page are the 249 articles in the Skills Handbook, presented in alphabetical order. This Pre-order Edition
however contains 6 articles and is distributed free to all pre-orders of the final publication. To view the full list of articles that will
be available in the Print Edition, visit www.SkillsHandbook.co.za and click on Table of Contents.

PRE-ORDER EDITION CHAPTERS

ARTISAN DEVELOPMENT....................................................................................... 16
ARTISAN DEVELOPMENT - FUNDING.................................................................. 26
ARTISAN DEVELOPMENT - HISTORY OF............................................................. 32
NAMB - NATIONAL ARTISAN MODERATION BODY........................................... 38
SETA SECTOR - GRANT REGULATIONS, AMENDED........................................ 41
SETAS - FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICES SETA FASSET............... 46

UPDATES
Updates are issued monthly, or more frequently, as new articles are added to this section of the book. Revisions will also be
made to existing articles on an ongoing basis to continually improve their quality and ensure they are up to date with ongoing
developments.

PARAGRAPH NUMBERING
Paragraphs are numbered to facilitate referencing, however with each update of the book the numbering may change. Please
therefore cite the version number of the publication whenever you cite the book. The version number can be found on the
inside front cover.

HYPERLINKS AND CROSS REFERENCES

Throughout the eBook version of the publication, hyperlinks are used to external (internet) links, as well as internal (pulication)
links. External links are distinguishable by the dark blue text and underline they are formatted with (for example the web
address www.SkillsHandbook.co.za . Internal links use black text and light blue underline formatting, such as the previous link
to the inside front cover. In addition, cross-referencing within the publication makes use of similar internal hyperlinks, and often
includes the page number as well for the benefit of hardcopy readers. In this case, the page number will be formatted as an
internal hyperlink, such as the link to page ii.
Where an article is referenced and no hyperlink is provided, that article is not yet available in the Pre-order Edition.

13

14

15

Artisan Development
1. For important background to this article, see the articles, Artisan Development - History of (pg 32) and
Artisan Development - Funding (pg 26).

OVERVIEW
2. During 2008, the Skills Development Act, Act 97 of
1998, was amended to strengthen the national policy
that governs artisan development in South Africa. One of
the critical outcomes of the amendment was the establishment of a National Artisan Moderation Body (NAMB)
on 30 November 2010 in the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). DHET is now aligning
national artisan development with the new policy.
3. The National Development Plan sets a target of
30,000 qualified artisans a year by 2030. Currently some
14,000 are qualifying annually, out of 27,000 enrolled.
The number of artisans produced every year is expected to increase to 24,000 per annum by 2019, to meet
the needs of a growing economy, according to the Medium-Term Strategic Framework1 of the country. This
clearly illustrates the intention within government that
there must be rapid progress towards the NDP target.
4. If you are unfamiliar with the topic of artisan development, start with the heading See also at the end of this
document to get the necessary background.

competitiveness and investment in high value-added

industries and increasing the volume of mineral exports. By improving the skills base and increasing competitiveness, the economy can diversify, offsetting the
distorting effects of elevated raw material (commodity)
prices on the rand.

Demand for trades

9. The SIPS Skills Plan3, summarises the results of a research process to identify skills needs for the countrys
infrastructure development programme. The report acknowledges the challenges in quantifying the need, but
reflects extensive collaborative research and provides a
basis from which training interventions can be planned.
The following trades were identified and a supply-demand analysis provided (all figures approximate):
Trade

Additional need by
2024

Projected gap

Bricklayer

12,000

12,000

Electrician

15,000

Millwright

7,500

Boilermaker

10,000

2,000

Carpenter and
Joiner

9,000

10,500

Industrial machinery mechanic

Not quantified in
report

Large gap
projected; only 2
qualified in last 3
years

Plumber

10,000

10,000

Pipe fitter

Not quantified in
report

Strong and
growing demand
projected

Painter

10,000

11,000

Plasterer

5,000

6,000

Welder

10,500

3,000

Rigger

Not quantified

Projected adequate supply

Moulder

500

400

Structural plater

1,400

1,800

RELEVANCE
5. South Africas shortage of skills, especially competent artisans, is a key factor in the countrys low economic growth rate.
6. South Africas Higher Education and Training Minister, Blade Nzimande, has stated that developing
qualified artisans is vital in South Africas fight against
poverty and unemployment. He has said on numerous
occasions that the development of qualified artisans to
support the economy is a high priority for his department and for the government.
7. According to the National Development Plan2, South
Africas exports to advanced economies have slowed in
response to lower demand, but this has been offset by
increased demand from Asia and higher prices for raw
materials.

Sheet metal worker Not quantified

Not quantified

10. For more detail see Chapter 7 of the SIPs Skills

Plan.

8. While South Africa has maintained a reasonably

sound trade balance, owing largely to high raw material
prices, it is of concern that high value-added and labour-intensive exports are slowing. In the medium term,
South Africa has to respond to this trend by bolstering
The Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) is a five-year plan used by
government as a guide for planning, developing South Africa, allocating resources and for performance evaluation,
2
National Planning Commission, Department: The Presidency. National Development Plan 2030. Our Future - Make it Work. Executive Summary
(www.southafrica.info/business/economy/policies/ndp-140613.htm)
1

16

3
Department of Higher Education and Training. Skills for and through SIPS,
First Edition (Pretoria: September 2014): Chapter 7.

Artisan Development
(Continued)
LEGISLATION AND POLICY
11. See List of Legislation for a table of all relevant
skills development legislation.

12. Artisan development is connected to the legislation and policy governing the entire skills development sub-system of the post-school education and
training sector. However the legislation and policy
documents below are of particular relevance to artisan
development:

Name

Year

Type

Notes

Skills Development Act Nr 97

1998

Act

Basis for entire skills development system

Skills Development Levies Act Nr 9

1999

Act

Provides for the introduction of a skills development levy

Registration of Learnerships and

Learnership Agreements Nr 1151

2000

Regu- Details the process for registering learnerships and learnership agreelations ments

Skills Development Amendment Act

Nr 31

2003

Act

Update to the Skills Development Act

Skills Development Amendment Act

Nr 37

2008

Act

Major update to Skills Development Act (see QCTO and NAMB among
others)

Listing of Occupations as Trades

for which Artisan Qualifications are
Required Nr 35625

2012

Regu- Definition and criteria to classify an occupation as a trade plus list of trade
lations occupations (previously called designated trades)

Manpower Training Act

1981

Act

Trade Test Regulations (draft)

2012

Regu- Purpose is to implement a single national artisan trade testing and certifilations cation system across all economic sectors quality assured by the Quality
Council for Trade and Occupations

NQF Act Nr 67

2008

Act

Provided basis for the QCTO among other things

Generic National Artisan Learner

Grant Funding and Administration
System

2013

Policy

New funding and administration framework

Learning Programme Regulations

(draft)

2012

Regu- Focus on the role of SETAs in facilitating agreements between learners,

lations employers and learning programme providers

Criteria & Guidelines for the

Accreditation of Skills Development
Providers for Occupations Listed as
Trades

2014

Policy

Governed training and artisan development by industry training boards

prior to the SETAs

Used by the NAMB to recommend providers for accreditation to the QCTO

Table: Legislation & policy relevant to artisan development

17

Artisan Development
(Continued)
PARTICIPANTS
13. The importance of artisan development nationally is
reflected in the wide range of stakeholder and technical
forums.

Stakeholder forums
14. These include:
ss

HRDC

ss

G-SETA

ss

SETA-AD

ss

SOC-AD

ss

DHET-RAITT

Step 2: Fundamental theory

Technical forums
15. These include:
ss

NAMF

ss

QCTO-NAMB

ss

ARPL

ss

DSA-pilot

ss

NADDAF

HOW ARTISANS ARE DEVELOPED

16. Artisan development is a joint effort between government and the private sector. Learners receive theoretical knowledge in schools and TVET colleges and
are then contracted by employers for the purpose of
artisan training. Once contracted, the learners undergo
practical and workplace training, which prepares them
to undergo a trade test to qualify as artisans.

The Seven Step Model

17. The seven step model for artisan development was
developed by the Artisan Development Technical Task
Team and approved by the DHET as the standardised
national approach.
Step 1: Career guidance and management
18. The first step for artisan development is about
career guidance and management. The intention is to
enable young people, from around Grade 7, to start
thinking seriously about career options, and consider a
career in the technical and vocational fields that would
ultimately lead to them becoming qualified artisans.
The DHET launched an extensive programme, the
year of the artisan in 2013, and the decade of the artisan, 2014 2024, to raise awareness among young
18

people. If initiatives such as these are strengthened and

selection procedures improved to ensure that people
with appropriate aptitude and attitude are selected for
artisan learning programmes, this can result increased
learner recruitment, improved learner selection and
better throughput rates. If the low pass rate of trade tests
is taken into account, it is clear that recruitment and selection need to be significantly improved.

19. The second step is the provision of fundamental theory. Fundamental vocational engineering theory, which
is taught primarily at public TVET colleges, is currently
provided in the form of Nated courses, NC(V)4, or a
technical / academic Matric5. Many people starting an
apprenticeship have a Nated background. The Nated
courses are perceived to be outdated. The NC(V)
is viewed by some critics as too general and lacking
practical training. The QCTO has initiated a process of
developing occupational qualifications for trades. There
are currently eight new registered qualifications listed
on the QCTO website. This is will require time and
investment in curriculum design specialists as well as
industry experts as part of ensuring the relevance and
usability of such qualifications in the workplace.
20. Learners who do not achieve adequate mathematics and science results (from Nated or Matric programmes) can enrol onto the GTPP (General Trade
Preparation Programme) bridging programme prior to
being accepted onto an apprenticeship programme.
The GTPP was initially a DHET pilot project at College
of Cape Town TVET College and is now being rolled
out to other TVET colleges across the country. In some
instances people with a Matric go to a TVET College, do
a NC(V) programme, and then do a Nated programme
in the hope of getting contracted by an employer onto an
artisan learning programme. This is a lengthy and costly process that often leads to a fragmented approach to
the training of artisans.
21. Lecturer capacity within TVET colleges to deliver
trade related training remains a challenge and is often
raised as a concern by employers. The DHET intends
to channel resources into capacitating TVET lecturers
and upgrading their qualifications (refer to the article on
TVET Sector - The turnaround strategy).

4
5

National Certificate (Vocational), a TVET college programme

Matric = grade 12, the final year of formal schooling

Artisan Development
(Continued)
22. Fundamental theory lays the foundation for entry
into an artisan development path. In practice this happens in most instances of artisan development before
an apprenticeship agreement is signed with an employer. The challenge of this approach is that the integration
of fundamental, practical and workplace training does
not happen in an integrated manner, and frequently
the practical and workplace learning commences long
after fundamental training has been completed.
Step 3: Learner agreement contracting and
administration
23. Learner programme registration is the third step,
where an agreement is signed between an artisan
learner and an employer. The SETA to which the employer pays the skills levy (as custodian of artisan
learner agreements and contracts) registers the apprenticeship agreement. At this point the learner enters
the workplace and commences with practical workshop
and workplace training (step four and five).
Step 4: Occupational knowledge learning
24. Step four relates to trade knowledge and practical
training, which normally takes place in workshops at
TVET Colleges or private training providers. Due to a
common negative perception by industry on the quality
of training at TVET Colleges, the frequently out-dated
equipment in workshops and the capacity of college
lecturers, this may take place at private providers.
Step 5: Workplace learning
25. Step five is about workplace experience - taking
artisan learners into the workplace where they are
practically trained, developed and mentored. Here they
become exposed to the application of trade theory of
their chosen artisan trade under the guidance of an experienced, qualified artisan.
Step 6: Trade testing and recognition of prior
learning
26. Step six refers to trade testing or summative assessment6. This happens at accredited trade test centres
across the country, many of these currently being private institutions. Frequently a training provider is also
accredited as a trade test centre, which holds the potential risk of their being both referee and player. The
DHET plans to develop a policy and process that will
address potential fraud and irregularities.
Summative assessment = the final assessment before completing a programme, usually preceded by formative assessments

27. The intent of the DHET is to increase the number

of public (TVET) Colleges that are accredited as trade
test centres. The trade tests are often outdated, but a
process has commenced to review these and standardise them in line with new occupational qualifications
that are being developed. This is however a resource
and time-intensive process which may take years to
complete.
28. A policy on RPL has been drafted, and the intention
is to increase the number of people that achieve artisan
status via the RPL route. In the case of an RPL candidate
the person has:
-- at least 6 years relevant work experience with no
Nated background, or
-- 5 years work experience with N2 Trade Theory, or
-- 4 years of work experience with a completed
4-subject N2 certificate.

29. Normally some top-up training (academic and in

a simulated environment to fill gaps) is required, and
this can take a month or up to a year to complete depending on their level of competency and knowledge.
Artisan RPL grants are available to employers from
some SETAs at varying amounts.
Step 7: Quality assurance & certification
30. The seventh step - quality assurance and certification - falls under the legislative control of the QCTO7
but is delegated to the National Artisan Moderation
Body (NAMB) through service-level agreements. Currently quality assurance is still done by various SETAs,
with different approaches and practices. It entails the
accreditation of providers, approval of workplaces for
artisan training, registration of assessors and moderators, and managing the quality assurance work done
by registered assessors and moderators. NAMB has
embarked on a process for standardising the differing
approaches and practices. SETAs have agreed to uniform grant funding and administration, accreditation of
skills development providers and approval of workplaces. Grants are dependent on the availability of funds and
the demand for grants in the various sectors.
31. It is expected that, with improved quality assurance
practices, there may be an improvement in trade test
pass rates which are currently just above 50%. On passing the trade test, a person is issued a certificate that is

The quality assurance model of the QCTO is delegation to quality partners

where, in this instance, the NAMB is the assessment quality partner for trades.

19

Artisan Development
(Continued)
trade-specific and is known as an Artisan Certificate of
Competence.

Skills planning and research

32. See main article Sector skills planning.
33. Artisan development starts with an analysis of
artisan supply and demand. SETAs are currently responsible for conducting demand and supply analysis
of artisans in their respective sectors. Such research
informs the development of their Sector Skills Plans
(SSPs) that are used to develop a sector strategy and
determine the focus for SETA funding within an operational plan. Sometimes it is difficult to determine how
particular research findings and projections have been
arrived at, and the validity of SETA research findings
is frequently questioned. Skills planners need to know
with some accuracy that the right number or artisans are
trained in the right trades. An analysis of the demand for
and supply of artisans through rigorous research should
ideally inform the planning, policy development and implementation plan for the system.

37. This project was officially launched at the HSRC on

4 September 2012. It aims to set up systems to establish
reliable data on supply and demand in the South African labour market. It aims to create a credible labour
market intelligence framework to ensure better information gathering, analysis, and overall systems synergy
across the post-schooling system. The research on the
LMIP has been organised in terms of the following six
themes:

Theme Two: Skills forecasting - the supply and

demand model

3.

Theme Three: Selected sectoral analyses

4.

Theme Four: Reconfiguring the Post-School Sector

5.

Theme Five: Pathways through education and training

and into the labour market

6.

Theme Six: Understanding changing artisanal and

occupational identities and milieus8

Title

Date

MERSETA Learnerships and Apprenticeships Impact Assessment

1 Sep 2008

EPA Conference Report May 2010

11 Mar 2010

COMET RSA Study Report April 2012

2 Apr 2012

HSRC Towards Understanding of Artisan

Training in South Africa

8 Dec 2014

Towards Model Apprenticeship WB ILO

25 Nov 2013

White Paper

20 Nov 2013

Green Paper

30 Apr 2012

QUALIFICATION CHANGES
40. Artisan development falls in the TVET stream of
the post-school education and training system, and this
stream is undergoing significant change to improve
the quality of qualifications. One aspect of this relates
to the QCTO, which was established in March 2010 to
oversee the development of occupational qualifications
(as opposed to general qualifications). The QCTO is
also reviewing the Nated programmes. Another area
where TVET curriculum reform is being driven from
is within Umalusi, where a policy review process will
begin during 2015. A third development which will impact new qualifications is the proposed establishment
of SAIVCET. The Ministerial Task Team on the South
African Institute for Vocational and Continuing Education and Training (SAIVCET) recommended the establishment of this institute, with one of its objectives being
curriculum innovation and design.
8

20

2.

39. The following documents from the NASDC document library can be referenced for more information
(available on http://nadsc.dhet.gov.za):

Labour Market Intelligence Partnership (LMIP)

36. The LMIP includes artisan development in one of

its six focus areas.

Theme One: Labour market analysis, framework, data,

and information systems

38. The LMIP is the beginning of the realisation of Goal

4.1 of NSDS III, which refers to the establishment of a
credible institutional mechanism for skills planning.

34. Similarly, there is a need for a structured monitoring and evaluation system that implements research to
provide answers as to whether the artisan development
system is on the right track, that is, whether people
qualifying are absorbed into the labour market and
whether industry is satisfied with the quality of artisans
produced.

35. The DHET is funding a Labour Market Intelligence

Partnership (LMIP) which is a research consortium led
by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

1.

http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/departments/education-and-skills-development/lmip

Artisan Development
(Continued)
The new QCTO trade qualifications
41. See main article QCTO - Trades.
42. Through QCTO processes, the following new vocational qualifications have been registered and can be
viewed online9 via the QCTO website:
ss

Electrician

ss

Electroplater

ss

Electrical line mechanic - overhead line mechanic

ss

Engineering pattern maker

ss

Melter

ss

Moulder and Patternmaker

ss

Plumber

ss

Toolmaker

training, weak quality assurance practices and

inadequate mentoring in the workplace.
49. The White Paper for Post-School Education &
Training outlines approaches to facing and overcoming
these challenges.

Curricula
50. DHET is currently reviewing all vocational curricula
in order to ensure they are up to date and linked to labour market requirements. This will address the issue of
the confusion around learning pathways and the greater
desirability of some learning pathways over others.

43. The QCTO invited providers to apply to become

accredited for the new occupational qualifications in
December 2014, so is not possible yet to determine
the effectiveness of these qualifications. During 2015,
MerSETA will embark on two pilots to test some of the
new occupational qualifications.The qualifications will
be Melter, Moulder and Pattern-maker.

51. Currently, people entering an apprenticeship have

often completed the theoretical part of the artisan development programme, and have completed a matric.
When they start their apprenticeship, the critical elements of practical and workplace training are outstanding. This is inefficient integration of what should really
be a holistic learning experience. The DHET curriculum review will therefore also seek to ensure better integration of theory, practice and workplace experience
in the curricula.

CURRENT CHALLENGES

Providers

44. The throughput rate of artisan learner successfully

completing the trade test is low, estimated at approximately 56%. This is low if compared with international
pass-rates.
45. Factors related to this are discussed in the sections
following.

Guidance, recruitment, selection and

training
46. Artisan training is an expensive investment that
needs to be carefully aimed at learners who have undergone proper career guidance, and have the technical aptitude and motivation to become an artisan in the
relevant trade.
47. Contributing factors to the low throughput rate are:
48. weak basic education, inadequate career
guidance, poor recruitment and selection
processes, low quality of training provision
across one or more of the three components of

52. DHET is also implementing the TVET college turnaround strategy, which will help to improve the linkages
between colleges and employers, and therefore make
artisan development more widely available and accessible (see the article TVET Sector - The turnaround
strategy for details).

Work placements
53. Due to the steady decline in artisan development
until about ten years ago, and the fact that State-Owned
Enterprises do not train large numbers of artisans any
longer, obtaining sufficient workplaces for the number of
apprentices that need to be trained remains a challenge
to the system. The rigorous requirements for workplace
approval make it difficult for smaller companies to
participate in artisan development, the availability of
qualified mentors is challenging, as well as the grant
constraints in terms of SETA funding availability.
54. One of the key challenges has been the reliance
on large employers, particularly historically the StateOwned Enterprises and large manufacturing and mining companies. These companies find it increasingly
difficult to provide long term employment for artisans

http://www.qcto.org.za/index.php/registered-qualifications

21

Artisan Development
(Continued)
because of the changing nature of work and the economic recession.
55. Small and medium sized companies should ideally
provide employment opportunities in the trades, as is
the case in Switzerland, but in South Africa they find it
difficult to participate. merSETA plans to commission
research into the involvement of small companies in
artisan development during 2015. One of the challenges that small companies experience is the capacity to
provide the range of workplace experience required
and quality supervision of artisan learners. Interventions
such as mentor programmes and rotation between two
or more companies may be options worth exploring.

INTERNATIONAL TRENDS AND GOOD

PRACTICE
56. See main article INAP - International Network on
Innovative Apprenticeship.
57. Artisan Development is of interest to both developed and developing countries due to its importance
to the manufacturing sector, as well as to several niche
industries such as aerospace, defence and the green
sector. Efforts to consolidate international best practice
are common, the most well known being INAP - International Network on Innovative Apprenticeship. The
International Network on Innovative Apprenticeship
(INAP) is an association of researchers and research
institutions in vocational education and training. European countries such as Switzerland and Germany
are commonly the focus of such comparative studies,
although the applicability of these models to developing
countries (or any other countries) is debatable, given the
complex set of variables involved including the quality
of the basic education system..

The Swiss experience

58. Most TVET10 programmes in Switzerland consist
of part-time studies at a TVET school combined with
a part-time apprenticeship at a host company. There
are around 230 occupations combined with careers to
choose from. There are also TVET programmes based
on a full-time curriculum (without apprenticeship),
which are generally offered by trade schools or commercial schools. TVET programmes closely match the
needs of the labour market, both in terms of professional qualifications and the number of available jobs. The
close correlation with the labour market helps explain
10

22

Called Vocational Education & Training (VET) Programmes locally

why Switzerland has one of the lowest youth unemployment rates in Europe. Both vocational and professional
qualifications are flexible and students can pursue additional learning and change careers with relative ease.
Trade associations such as employer bodies determine
the curricula and learning programmes. TVET schools
generally work with host companies on what is referred
to as a dual-track approach to learning: students learn
theoretical principles at the VET school part-time and
do an apprenticeship at a host company part time to
gain practical skills.11 Such projects can generate income for the school and serve an economic purpose
for companies.

The German experience

Berufsakademie
59. Berufsakademie, translated vocational university
or university of cooperative education were first established in 1974, and now operate in several German
provinces.
60. Students need a university entrance plus a work
contract for the duration of three years with a company
or a governmental institution. Therefore, the participants
of this work-integrated study model are both students
and employees at the same time. This way of studying
has proven to be very successful.
61. From 2010, every student graduating from a Berufsakademie receives a bachelors degree. What makes
this approach different to learning at a traditional German university is small classes, a shorter period of study,
work integrated learning, the perceived limited positions available, and earning a salary while studying.
62. Companies and social institutions thus play an
essential role within the Berufsakademie educational
system. They are equal partners to the state-run Berufsakademie on all decision- making committees and
exert a strong, ongoing influence on curricula. Enterprises, in order to be accepted as partners must fulfill
a number of requirements such as size of the company,
qualified personnel and state-of-the-art training facilities. Having fulfilled these conditions, they are certified
as a training enterprise12.
11
Federal Department of Economic Affairs. Fact and Figures: Vocational
and Professional Education in Switzerland, 2011).
12
Reinhardt, K. The German Berufsakademie Work-Integrated Learning Program: A Potential Higher Education Model for West and East.
(August 2006).

Artisan Development
(Continued)
Dual system apprenticeship model
63. The dual system is used in Germany, Austria and
Switzerland to train a variety of occupations including
artisans across a wide range of industry sectors such
as banking, retail and ICT. Around 60 per cent of young
people in Germany take part in the dual system of vocational training. It is termed 'dual' because training
takes place both in the company (3 - 4 days a week)
and part-time (1 - 2 days a week) in a vocational school.
The company provides practical training, and the vocational school supplements this on the job learning with
theoretical instruction. It is open to school leavers and is
financed mainly by companies.13
64. The Minister of HET was impressed by the dual
system in Germany and commissioned research into
the feasibility of adopting it in South Africa.
65. A pilot dual system project is currently underway
at three TVET colleges around the country. Umfolozi
College in Richards Bay is training electricians, Port
Elizabeth College is training mechatronics14 technicians
and West Coast College in Saldanha is training welders. The project is being coordinated by the Swiss South
African Co-operation Initiative.

FUTURE
66. The artisan development system has undergone
rapid change since the inauguration of the new Department of Higher Education & Training in 2009. Some of
the recent changes have yet to bear fruit.
67. The intent of government to increase the number
and quality of artisans is clear. The quality of the skills
analysis for the number and types of trades required
does need refinement, but the need for infrastructure
development and maintenance, the rapid changes in
manufacturing and production technology, and the
move toward greening the economy, all signal a clear
need for an increased investment in artisan development by the private sector, SETAs and the fiscus.
68. The new QCTO trade qualifications are mostly still
under development and it will take time before the first

13

Dual System Training; Guenter Schroeter Consultant.

14
Mechatronics technicians are a relatively new breed of artisan in South Africa.
They work on integrated production systems and can repair and maintain mechanical, electrical, electronic, computer and communication systems. a robot is
a good example of such an integrated system.

few cohorts of apprentices progress through these qualifications so that improvements can be measured.
69. Capacity building at TVET Colleges to position
them to become preferred providers of the theory and
initial practical skills components, is ongoing. It will
however take time for employers to build trust in the
delivery capacity of these institutions and in the quality
of programmes they offer and the quality of trainees that
they produce.
70. More workplaces are needed for the workplace
experience component of the apprenticeship. The ideal
situation would be where a learner is contracted by an
employer before the commencement of their theoretical
training and that theory, practical (workshop) and workplace training happens in an integrated manner over
a three-year period, as was the practice in the country
before the decline of artisan training in the mid-1980s.
71. The development and implementation of a workplace mentor development programme may facilitate
this process, and consideration could be given to the
use of retired qualified artisans to act as trainers and
mentors.
72. Other future developments include the finalisation
of the Trade Test Regulations. The purpose of these
Regulations is to implement a single national artisan
trade testing and certification system across all economic sectors and to eliminate the current industry and
sector based artisan trade testing system. The intention
is also to improve access to and the quality of trade
testing and to allow for the development of a national,
single, standardised approach to recognition of prior
learning for all artisan trade occupations. They were
gazetted for public comment on 31 August 2012 but the
Regulations have not yet been finalised.
73. See the article Artisan Development - Success
Stories for details on emerging good practice. This
includes Columbus Steels success in using retired artisans to mentor apprentices, a model developed under
merSETAs Accelerated Artisan Training Programme.
74. See the article Artisan Development - Dual system
model for information on a new approach to artisan
development, based on the German system, which is
being piloted by some companies together with TVET
colleges in South Africa.

23

Artisan Development
(Continued)
RESOURCES
ss

DHET artisan development policies

LINKS
ss

The Labour Market Intelligence Partnership

(LMIP) website: http://www.lmip.org.za which is an
undertaking to inform and support evidence-based
skills development policy in South Africa

ss

The NAMB website: http://nadsc.dhet.gov.za/

ss

The QCTO website: http://www.qcto.org.za/

-- Artisan Development Data Reporting Procedure &

Policy
-- Generic National Artisan Learner Grant Funding &
Administration Policy
ss

Research
-- The LMIP website has several research documents
relating to artisan development. Visit http://www.
lmip.org.za and click on the lnk Repository, then
search for documents with the keyword artisan. For
example:
Mbatha, N, Wildschut, A, Mncwango, B,
Ngazimbi, X, Twalo, T. LMIP Report 2: Towards
understanding the distinctive nature of artisan
training: Implications for skills planning in South
Africa (Pretoria: Labour Market Intelligence
Partnership, 2014)
MerSETA, HSRC. Studying Artisans in the
Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services
Sector (Pretoria, HSRC, 2014)
The HRD Council of SA has published several
research documents into artisan development
as part of the work of the Artisan Development
Technical Task Team. These include:
Growing priority skills in South Africa final report
on JIPSA
-- The NASDC website has a research page here:
http://nadsc.dhet.gov.za/
-- There are pockets of monitoring and evaluation
research conducted in the past by individual
SETAs, such as the merSETA Learnership and
Apprenticeship Impact Assessment, commissioned
in 2008.
The merSETA commissioned research into quality
measurement practices for TVET Colleges:
MerSETA and University of Bremen. Project
Report: Comet-pilot Test South Africa (April 2012)

ss

International trends
-- The International Network on Innovative
Apprenticeship. An Architecture for Modern
Apprenticeships - Standards for Structure,
Organisation and Governance; (INAP Commissions,
2012)
-- Federal Office for Professional Education and
Technology OPET. Facts and Figures: Vocational
and Professional Education in Switzerland. (2012)
-- Reinhard, K. Essay: The German Berufsakademie
Work-Integrated Learning Programme: A Potential
Higher Education Model for East and West. (AsiaPacific Journal for Cooperative Education, August
2006): 16 - 21

24

SEE ALSO
ss

Apprenticeships

ss

Artisan development Dual system model

ss

Artisan development Funding (pg 26)

ss

Artisan development History of (pg 32)

ss

Artisan development RPL

ss

Artisan development Success stories

ss

Artisan development grants

ss

DHET - Department of Higher Education & Training

ss

HRDCSA - Human Resources Development Council of

South Africa

ss

Learnership Grants

ss

Legislation, List of

ss

NAMB - National Artisan Moderation Body (pg 38)

ss

National Skills Development Strategy

ss

NSDS III

ss

PIVOTAL Programmes

ss

SIPs Skills Plan

ss

QCTO Trades

ss

QCTO - Quality Council for Trades & Occupations

ss

White Paper for Post-School Education & Training

CONTRIBUTORS
75. View short profiles of the contributors in the section
Contributor Biographies (pg 94).
-- Brian Angus
-- Blanche Engelbrecht
-- Janet Lopes
-- Christoph Vorwerk

25

Artisan Development - Funding

OVERVIEW
1. A ground breaking new funding policy for artisan development was launched at Olifantsfontein in Midrand
on 11 July 2013. The policy removes one of the three
primary blockages to boosting our artisan skills base as
a country, and could also pave the way for streamlining
the funding and administration of all our SETA based
learning initiatives.
"It is not often that organized labour and employers
agree on a policy but it seems that when it comes to
artisan development there is definitely one voice."
Deputy Minister Manana at the launch of the "Policy for a Generic
National Artisan Learner Grant Funding and Administration
System" on 11 July 2013

BACKGROUND
2. Artisan training is an expensive and time-consuming
exercise. It takes anywhere from 2 - 4 years to train an
artisan, and it costs between R200,000 to R650,000 depending on the trade. The figure of R300,000 was used
as the basis for the development of this new policy.
3. This makes it hard for small and medium sized employers to train artisans in large numbers, but even large
employers can go badly wrong if they take on a large
group of artisans and run into funding or administration
problems.
4. Government on the other hand has identified artisan
development as a key strategy to boost the manufacturing and engineering components of our economy
(which are needed to grow exports), and to support job
creation by absorbing school leavers and unemployed
people into well-paying jobs. So government needs to
get employers to scale up their current artisan training
efforts to go well beyond "training for their own need" in
order to increase the pool of available artisans for the
big Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs).
5. This is one of the reasons that artisan development
is one of the key priorities of the HRD Council. In June
last year the Council identified funding and learner administration blockages as one of three key constraints to

26

artisan development (artisan data and artisan RPL are

the other two constraints).
6. For example, until the launch of this new funding
policy, there were 14 different sets of grant criteria for
employers across the 21 SETAs, and the National Skills
Fund (NSF) also had its own criteria.
7. If you were successful at getting a grant, you couldn't
easily plan ahead, knowing what amount your grant was
going to be, as each SETA offered differing amounts.
Then even if you did plan ahead successfully and get
a grant, you faced the certain uncertainty of knowing
that everything would change in the next financial year
and you may not be able to complete (or repeat) your
artisan training - because with each new financial year
SETAs would adapt their grants to available funding and
changes in their strategy.
"We as a country and as individual citizens have become
completely confused with the multi sector approach
to artisan development and as a result have lost huge
knowledge of how a real national artisan system works.
This policy helps us to get that national system back in
place."
Deputy Minister Manana 11 July 2013

8. Given these difficulties in planning and administering apprentices, its no surprise that only the largest
employers showed an appetite for artisan development,
and it was still difficult to get them to "train beyond need"
to create some surplus for the rest of the country.
9. So in response the Dept Higher Education and Training launched the Policy for a Generic National Artisan
Learner Grant Funding and Administration System on
11 July 2013.
10. The new policy means that qualifying employers
will be able to access R139,350 per new learner artisan
(spread over the duration of the learning programme,
usually 2 - 3 years). Its a lot of money, but still well below
the full cost of most artisan learning programmes:
employers also have to factor in the cost of machinery
and supervision, as apprentices must have access to

Artisan Development - Funding

(Continued)
relevant equipment and must be mentored by an experienced artisan for the duration of their apprenticeship.
11. For employers, a big benefit is the fact that they
can depend on, predict and plan their artisan development with this R139,350 figure in mind, rather than
having to adapt each year to fluctuations in SETA grant
availability.
12. With over R 3,6 trillion in major infrastructure projects in progress or under consideration1, it is critical
that this money filters down throughout the economy
as widely as possible, and that is only possible if local
skills and expertise are available - specifically artisans.
Our Strategic Integrated Projects can create hard infrastructure and also "soft infrastructure" - a skilled and
experienced artisan workforce for our manufacturing,
mining and logistics sectors, and also for supporting
the creation of infrastructure in neighbouring SADC and
African countries.

PRINCIPLES
13. This is a summary of some of the key elements of
the policy.

Rewards for effectiveness

14. Employers who take up the total amount of learners
allocated to them will be rewarded by getting the opportunity to take on additional learners (at the expense of
employers who did not fulfil their quota!).
15. Government is currently planning to increase the
number of new learners entering artisan learning programmes by at least 1,000 extra learners per year.

Flexibility
16. The National Skills Fund will still be able to fund artisan development directly with employers if necessary
(for example to achieve a specific national goal that may
be cross-sectoral), but the amount will be the same.

Better skills planning and data

17. Every year by 31 October the government will be
able to calculate a Total Available National Artisan Development Budget based on budgets submitted by all
SETAs and the National Skills Fund
1
This figure is based on government expenditure from the fiscus (R430bn) plus
R400 bn drawn from the State-owned Enterprises, plus private sector infrastructure projects. More detail available at http://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/
state-spend-r827bn-infrastructure

18. Every year by 30 November there will be a single

national database of approved artisan learner workplaces which will be helpful for a number of reasons:
ss

It can be used in planning "spatially based" training

initiatives (e.g. how many workplaces in Limpopo
meet the criteria for hosting artisans, and how many
artisans can they host)

ss

It will capture the demand for apprentices by

approved workplaces, which tells skills planners what
the total national capacity is for the year ahead

Consistency
19. Employers operating across one or more of the
twenty one sectors of the economy will no longer have to
jump through sector-specific requirements for hosting
apprentices - there will be one national set of workplace
approval criteria applicable to all employers (expected
to be published around end September 2013 - please
revisit this post for updates which will be noted in red
text )
20. The quality assurance of this process is delegated
to the National Artisan Moderating Body by the QCTO
(Quality Council for Trades & Occupations). Currently
the NAMB will quality assure this process through the
SETAs.
21. Payment of the R139,350 will be made in 4 tranches
of R34,837.50 each, after key milestones have been met
by the employer and validated by the SETA. The specific milestones and criteria can be viewed in the policy
document and are summarised below

Efficiency
22. Previously the NSF and SETAs would sometimes
co-fund artisan training and this could make the process
more bureaucratic and expensive, as there would be
two sets of project management and reporting costs

APPLYING FOR FUNDING

23. There is a five-step annual process for employers
which is summarised below.
1.

Budgets - completed by 31 October

-- Each SETA and the NSF establishes the total rand
value budget for artisan development for the next
financial year
-- This budget is submitted to DHET for consolidation
to establish the Total Available National Artisan
Development Budget

27

Artisan Development - Funding

(Continued)
2.

Workplaces - completed by 30 November

-- SETAs issue a call for grant applications from
qualifying employers for funding of new artisan
learners starting from April the following year
-- These applications can be for all trades as listed in
the Government Gazette 35625
-- SETAs submit a summary of applications received
to DHET for consolidation onto a single national
database of approved artisan learner needs
and workplaces for use in planning

3.

New Learner Grant - completed by 31 January

-- The new learner grant is announced by 31 January,
and will increase each year to cover inflation and
also to incentivise what is hopefully at least 1,000
new artisan learners each year
-- While the grant is fixed for the year ahead, the
number of learners that can be supported with the
grant will change from year to year, depending on
the total availability of funding

4.

Allocations - completed by 28 February

-- SETAs now allocate grants to employers based on
available funding and relevant SETA Board criteria this list is submitted to DHET
-- DHET can now review the list of planned artisan
training for the year ahead and may change
allocations in line with national needs and priorities
-- Once the SETA receives approval or changes
for their allocations they can communicate with
employers and move to step 5

5.

Disbursements - completed on verification of

employer implementation by SETA
-- The payments are made in four tranches at 25% per
tranche
-- Detailed criteria exist for implementation at each
milestone (see the the policy document for details)
basically summarised as:
25% on contractual commitment with
implementation plans by employer
25% on registration of learner with a SETA
25% on achieving half-way point (to be defined and
published for each trade)
25% on recommendation for certification

OTHER FUNDING AND INCENTIVES

Tax incentives
24. Artisan development is totally dependent on employer participation - without an employer, it is impossible to qualify in a trade. There are a number of incentives in place to encourage employer participation.
This includes the provision of the national artisan grant,
tax allowances for artisan learners (although the tax
28

allowance system favours large profitable companies)

and the allocation of BBBEE points to companies that
train artisans.
25. Employers can claim a deduction from their taxable
income for learners on an apprenticeship (a contract
in terms of Section 18 of the Manpower Training Act,
1981) when the minimum period of training is more than
12 months before the apprentice registers for the trade
test.
26. Similarly a tax deduction can be claimed for learners on learnerships where a learnership agreement has
been registered in accordance with the Skills Development Act, 1998. This tax allowance is deductible in
each year of tax assessment during which the learnership agreement or apprenticeship contract is in force.
A completion allowance is also deductible when a
learner successfully completes a learnership or apprenticeship. An annual allowance of R30,000 is provided for
(and R50,000 in the case of a disabled learner). A completion allowance of the same amounts is applicable.
27. For example: for a 4 year apprenticeship, a company could claim a total of 4 X R30,000 = R120,000 in
tax deduction. This is in addition to the standardised
grant of R139,350 per new learner artisan (spread over
the duration of the apprenticeship). Given that it costs
between R200,000 to R650,000 to develop an artisan,
depending on the trade, the grant and tax deductions
are significant. An average figure of R300,000 was used
as the basis for the development of the Generic National
Artisan Learner Grant.

The Broad-Based Black Economic

Empowerment (BBBEE) Scorecard
28. See main article BEE Codes (new).
29. The BBBEE scorecard was amended in 2014
(Gazette Nr 36928, 11 October 2013) to emphasise the
importance of skills development in an organisations
overall transformation. These amendments came into
effect on 1 May 2015.
30. The Minister of Higher Education & Training announced the appointment of a task team in July 2014
to drive greater alignment between the BBBEE Codes
and the objectives of the DHET. The work of this task
team will be reflected in an interpretative guide on the
skills development element which will be published by
the Department of Trade & Industry and which will give

Artisan Development - Funding

(Continued)
more detailed guidelines as to their impact on artisan
development.
31. Other than the increased importance of skills development in general to the scorecard the following facts
are specifically of relevance to artisan development:
ss

Apprenticeships are Category D programmes on

the Learning Programme Matrix, thus qualifying
the salaries of black apprentices for calculation as
training spend under the codes
-- The new codes target a spend of 6% on payroll on
training of black employees
-- This equates to approximately R84 billion rand of
targeted spending per annum across South Africa2

ss

The new codes target 5% of an organisations

workforce to be on internship, learnership or
apprenticeship programmes

ss

Non-employees of the measured organisation

may count towards the organisations targets, thus
expanding the potential artisan talent pool that
qualifies for this funding

32. See the main article for more detail on the BBBEE
Codes and skills development.

SETA incentives
33. Artisan development qualifies as PIVOTAL training
under the SETA Grant Regulations, and therefore falls
under the 80% of discretionary grant funding earmarked
for PIVOTAL grants.
34. Prior to the launch of the Generic National Artisan
Learner Grant Funding and Administration System in
June 2013, SETAs would offer their own mix of artisan
development grants which varied widely in size and
frequency. Since the implementation of the new funding
system, SETAs still target different trades depending
on the skills needs of their sectors, but the size and frequency of the grants is now standardised.

ANALYSIS
35. While government has not linked the new artisan
funding framework to other training initiatives, the efficiencies, the quality of data and decision making allowed by the framework, and the potential for cross-sectoral synergies, will certainly catch the attention of policy
makers and HRD Council members who are looking to
get more value from the SETA system, at less cost.

36. A similar thrust towards cross-sectoral synergy is

visible in the recent launch of the Occupational Teams
for the Strategic Integrated Projects, where DHET is
trying to bring focus and collaboration to the massive
task of timing and co-ordinating employers, providers
and occupational bodies to meet the 20 year timeframe SIPs. This event will be the focus of our next blog
posting.

RESOURCES
37. Here is a list of documents you can download to get
more information on the launch and the policy:
1.

The full policy document can be read here

2.

A summary of the policy document can be read here

in the form of the official media statement

3.

The list of official trades (Gazette 35625) can be

accessed here (includes official definition of a trade)

4.

The address by Deputy Minister Manana at the

launch of the policy can be read here (contains good
historical background for the policy)

5.

The National Artisan Moderating Body (NAMB)

is the lead delivery partner within DHET for all artisan
related matters and can be contacted on 011 206 1000

6.

The DHET Media Liaison team: Mr. Lwando

Mahlasela, 082 440 5305

LINKS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
ss

What trades or occupations does this apply to?

-- All 125 artisan trades listed in the Government
Gazette 35625

ss

When does the new funding system kick-in?

-- From 1 April 2013, although it will only be enforced
from 1 April 2014 to enable SETAs and the NSF to
plan and budget according to the new requirements.
Some SETAs will be following the new funding
framework during 2013 if they can meet the funding
and planning requirements early.

ss

I am a small business and I can't afford to train

artisans, or I don't need the workplace approval
criteria. How do I get access to the artisans I need for
my business?
-- The new policy allows the DHET (through the NSF)
to prioritise funding for artisan development at
State Owned Enterprises, such as Eskom, and
government departments, such as the SANDF,
which in the past were major contributors to the
overall talent pool of artisans in the country

If 1% of payroll translates to R14 billion per annum from companies paying the
Skills Development Levy, then this figure is six times that

29

Artisan Development - Funding

(Continued)

ss

The State Owned Enterprises have stiff artisan

development targets under the National Skills
Accord and the National Development Plan
continues this emphasis

-- The Trade Test Regulations will be finalised

before April 2014 and will legislate the first ever
single national trade testing system for all listed
trades in South Africa

"Training beyond internal need" is a strategy

that increases the artisan talent pool and supports
small businesses which cannot afford to train their
own artisans or are unable to meet the stringent
criteria for artisan development

-- Chapter 6A of the Skills Development Act is

the current primary legislative framework for Artisan
Development and this will need to be amended
during the 2014 Parliamentary process to add in
SETA and NSF compliance to a single guaranteed
funding model for all artisan trades applicable to
all sectors including single, simple artisan learner
administration and grant disbursement system.

What about grants for specific unique trades, or for

specific categories of learners - they don't fit within
this "one size fits all" approach

-- A legal challenge by BUSA to the Amended

Grant Regulations may impact the total amount of
funding available for artisan funding, but will not
effect the fixed value of the grant (R139,350) nor the
other aspects of this policy

-- SETA Boards (and the NSF) will still be able to

define their own specific criteria for grants,
for example, they may choose to prioritise rural
employers or BBBEE employers as beneficiaries, but
the amount of the grant remains constant
-- Exceptions and exemptions will be funded via
special projects and separate SETA or NSF grants
that are approved and implemented separately.
Examples of potential exceptions include:
Grants for people undergoing Recognition of Prior
Learning to become artisans
Grants for learners coming from rural areas
Grants for people with disabilities
Grants for accommodation of artisan learners
Grants for infrastructure for artisan development
Grants to increase employer or provider capacity
for artisan development
Grants for some occupations that have cost
significantly more or substantially less than the
average total cost of R300,000 per trade that this
policy is based on.
These include but may not be limited
to chefs, goldsmiths, diamond and
gemstone setters, butchers, and
bakers.
ss

ss

Its a great policy but how will we make sure it

actually happens?

ss

Apprenticeships

ss

Artisan development Dual system model

ss

Artisan development (pg 16)

ss

Artisan development History of (pg 32)

ss

Artisan development RPL

ss

Artisan development Success stories

ss

Artisan development grants

ss

DHET - Department of Higher Education & Training

ss

HRDCSA - Human Resources Development Council of

South Africa

ss

Learnership Grants

ss

Legislation, List of

ss

NAMB - National Artisan Moderation Body

ss

National Skills Development Strategy

ss

NSDS III

ss

PIVOTAL Programmes

ss

SIPs Skills Plan

-- SETAs are responsible for their implementation

of this policy in their annual service level
agreements with the Director-General of the DHET

ss

QCTO Trades

ss

QCTO - Quality Council for Trades & Occupations

-- The Auditor General will also include

implementation of this policy as part of its annual
compliance and performance audit processes for
SETAs and the NSF

ss

White Paper for Post-School Education & Training

Is the implementation of this policy dependent on

(and therefore vulnerable to delays with) any other
pending legislation?
-- The Learning Programme Regulations are
awaiting ministerial sign-off and will create a single,
consistent learning programme agreement for all
artisan development programmes, whether they are
apprenticeship- or learnership-based

30

SEE ALSO

31

Artisan Development - History of

1. See the main article Artisan Development on page
16 for the current state of the artisan development
system.

OVERVIEW
2. Understanding the history of artisan development in
South Africa allows you to make sense of the current environment, and may also prevent the repetition of steps
taken in the past.

THE ROOTS OF THE CHALLENGES

3. Artisan development has been through substantial
changes over the past forty years. Prior to the mid-1980s
the country produced large numbers of artisans more
than 30 000 per year, predominantly white males. This
was driven mainly by large employers in both the public
and private sectors. State-owned enterprises such as
Eskom, Iscor1, SAA, Sasol, Telkom and Transnet developed and supplied artisans to the broader economy.
Artisan development fell under the policy regime of the
Manpower Training Act of 1981 and was the responsibility of sector-based Industry Training Boards. These
were superseded by Sector Education and Training
Authorities (SETAs) in the year 2000 that covered all the
economic sectors in the country.

Sector fragmentation
4. One difficulty created by the system of sector-based
training boards was that each had its own set of conditions of apprenticeship and its own training schedules
for common trades such as plumber, electrician, fitter or
mechanic. This practice continued under the SETAs as
a number of sections for Manpower Training Act were
retained under the Skills Development Act until the revision of the Skills Development Act. The revision has
since allowed NAMB to move to a situation where all
trade test centres use a single trade test per trade, since
late 2013, and a single set of provisions now govern the
training schedules for apprenticeships.

Economic shifts and privatisation

5. Economic circumstances during the late 80s and
early 90s resulted in many industries reducing their
training budgets. This was encouraged by business
methodologies of the time that emphasised outsourcing as much as possible the non-core operations of a
business. Some organisations also used an approach
of deskilling the trades by training individuals to perform one or two artisan tasks and so overcome existing
artisan shortages or, in some cases, avoid paying full
artisan wages.
6. With the privatisation of several state-owned enterprises (such as Iscor and Telkom) in the 1990s, artisan
development declined further. The over-emphasis on
learnership programmes (as opposed to apprenticeships) introduced by the Department of Labour from the
year 2000 onwards, was another contributing factor in
the decline of apprenticeships. The Skills Development
Act, 97 of 1998, intended to replace apprenticeships
with learnerships, which is why it retained portions of
the Manpower Training Act, until a date determined by
the Minister2. By 2004, a low-point of 4,500 artisans per
year had been reached.
7. According to the JIPSA Consolidated Report3, the
principle reason for the shortage of artisans lies in
the decline of the apprenticeship training system and
emerging evidence that, as in other parts of the world,
learnerships (also called traineeships) have focused
mainly on operator and process (machine minding)
occupations and not on artisan or trades or craft occupations, i.e. intermediate level skills. This was also
referred to as a focus on semi-skilled occupations rather
than skilled occupations.

A new national qualifications framework

adds complexity
8.The learnership system had also not come online
effectively across all sectors, especially with regard
to trades. For example all learnerships were linked to
Sections 37 (2), paragraphs (5) and (6) - the transitional provisions
Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA). Consolidated Report:
Artisans. (October 2009): 27 - 28

2
3
1

32

Now ArcelorMittal

Artisan Development - History of

(Continued)
registered qualifications on the NQF, and the emerging
practice, at NQF levels 1 - 5 was to have a series of
stand-alone, one-year, 120 credit qualifications. Learnerships could not therefore easily support multi-year
learning programmes such as the trades. In addition,
many learners exited the system at NQF level 2 for a
range of reasons, including a lack of available funding.
Those who succeeded at completing level 4 learnerships often their qualifying trade tests and so did not
qualify as artisans.
8. The Report also mentions changes in work processes and an increase in production pressures, with less
time now available in the workplace for supervising
and supporting structured workplace learning. With a
shrinking skilled artisan pool, there are fewer people
available with less time to supervise and support structured on-the-job learning. Opportunities for placement
in structured workplace learning have been restricted
by:
ss

the decline in apprenticeship and trade-related

learnership intakes as a consequence of the steep
decline in new intakes at State-Owned Enterprises

ss

low economic and business growth in the mining

industry and in the engineering and manufacturing
sector

ss

and as a result of work re-organisation in the

construction sector which came about as a result of a
lack of investment in infrastructure projects

ss

limited discretionary grant funding from some SETAs

for apprentice training.

9. Schedules of training for designated trades had generally not been updated since the advent of SETAs and
there is evidence of variation in apprentice training as
well as assessment standards and the quality of trade
tests at decentralised trade test centres.
10. Capacity to offer the theoretical or foundational
component of artisan training has been neglected at
TVET colleges which have not been able to keep up
to date with new products, technology and changing
forms of work organisation. This has resulted in outdated curricula, learning materials, equipment and
trainers. Attempts by both industry and government to
address these shortfalls through partnership arrangements at institution level in particular projects, the introduction of a new National Certificate (Vocational), and a
revised curriculum system, have yet to be implemented
in a systemic and sustainable manner. The decline in
apprenticeship training cannot be addressed by simply
increasing apprentice intake. The key to producing high

quality artisans is to integrate theoretical knowledge

with practical application in the workplace, and this is
one of the major bottlenecks in the artisan development
system. The See Also section at the end of this article
provides further links to TVET college related content
in this publication.

HISTORICAL PATHWAYS TO BECOMING AN

ARTISAN
Formal route (section 13)
11. At that stage there were essentially two routes to
becoming an artisan. The first was a formal apprenticeship targeted at young people who were contracted
by employers and trained to become qualified artisans
over a period of time, usually averaging three to four
years. This training was governed by section 13 of the
Manpower Training Act (MTA) under the Department of
Labour. An apprenticeship contract was signed between
the apprentice and the employer prior to training commencing. The apprentice then attended Nated4 training
(known as N1 and N2) that was offered by most technical colleges. They were given time off from work to attend classes, normally three months per year, whilst the
remaining nine months would be spent on practical and
workplace training. This was an integrated, block-release programme that integrated theoretical, practical
and workplace learning. The Nated programme was
usually followed during the first two 2 years of the apprenticeship. In the third year the apprentice remained
in the workplace, maintaining a log-book of work done.
It took 2 to 4 years to become an artisan using this
route. From early 1990 onwards, the N3 was added to
the Nated programme to give apprentices additional
Mathematics and Science knowledge as well as in
some instances more advanced trade theory aligned to
new technology as required by industry.

Informal route (section 28)

12. The second route was classified as informal and
was targeted at existing employees who did not have
any formal qualification but had been in the workplace
for a minimum of five years and had worked in most
cases as operators, artisan-aides or assistants. They
could undertake the trade test and qualify as an artisan without any formal training. This was governed by
section 28 of the MTA, so artisans who qualified by this
route were often called Section 28 Artisans.
4

National Technical Education

33

Artisan Development - History of

(Continued)
The learnership route
13. In 1998 the Skills Development Act was promulgated
and with that a new learnership system was introduced.
This was a new qualification type intended to provide
a flexible and alternative pathway to becoming a competent person based on workplace-based structured
learning. The Skills Development Act (SDA) proposed
that learnerships would incorporate traditional apprenticeships but did not state that apprenticeships would
no longer be allowed. It repealed a number of sections
of the 1990 Manpower Training Act but retained the
sections relating to apprenticeship training. As a result,
apprentices continued to qualify through the two routes
of the Manpower Training Act.
14. One of the changes thus initiated by the Skills Development Act was to create (parallel to the option of the
multiyear year apprenticeship) one-year programmes
with learners having the opportunity to complete either
after one year (with a national certificate for the trade)
or continue into a second and third year. In theory this
provided more flexibility and multiple routes to the trade
qualification. In practice, some employers expected
artisan level competence from trainees who had only
completed one year learnerships. Also, many learners
did not progress to higher learnership levels. This contributed to the poor reputation of the learnership system
in terms of the trades.
15. Although the learnership system was not aimed at
replacing apprenticeships, during 2000 to 2005 learnerships received most of the funding from the Sector
Education Training Authorities (SETAs) that were newly
established under the Skills Development Act. Consequently, many employers and even industries converted
artisan programmes to learnerships. The tax incentive
introduced by SARS in 2002, was also only applicable
to learnerships. In 2008 this was revised to include
apprenticeships.
16. The new learnership system had challenges in the
sense that some of the qualifications that were developed were perceived to be a lower standard than the
apprenticeships, assessment practices were cumbersome5 and resource intensive and the quality of some
of the providers accredited to do the training was questioned. Many learners did not progress to undertake a
trade test and so did not qualify as artisans.
5
Portfolios of evidence were sometimes implemented in a way that ignored the
challenges of technical occupations

34

17. Some of these challenges were related to the newness of the SETA system and the National Qualifications
Framework, other challenges were specific to certain
sectors and certain qualifications only. In certain cases
the experienced deficiencies were due to rapidly changing technologies, such as the advent of mechatronics
and moulded plastics technologies, which placed additional challenges on learning programmes and quality
assurance systems.
18. Employers in sectors such as engineering, where
there was a long history of conventional apprentice training, often did not embark on the training of learners on
learnerships since they felt that the learnership model
was more suitable for semi-skilled or operator training.

JIPSA SEEKS BREAKTHROUGHS TO

BOTTLENECKS
19. The decline in artisan development, along with the
challenges experienced in the learnership system, coincided with a period of rapid global economic growth
when the demand for artisans was peaking. Both business and government were frustrated that South Africa
was not able to benefit fully from the job creation and
economic growth potential of this phase, due to insufficient artisan skills.
20. This led to the JIPSA (Joint Initiative on Priority Skills
Acquisition) initiative that, among other things, tried to
identify the weaknesses in the artisan system. According to the JIPSA closeout report of March 2010, the
principal reason for the shortage of artisans lay in the
decline of the apprenticeship system (pg. 27). JIPSA
stated that a fundamental challenge with the learnership
system was that it failed to focus on artisan and tradebased occupations and suggested that learnerships
focus on operator and process (machine minding)
operations. The quality of apprenticeship training at
the time varied extensively, with workshop equipment,
assessment standards and trade testing becoming
out-dated and irrelevant in certain instances. In addition, the workplace-based component of apprentice
training suffered due to many companies experiencing
increased production pressures and learners increasingly lacked access to structured, experiential learning
in the workplace. The existing pool of qualified artisans
to draw mentors and supervisors from, was ageing, and
access to an insufficient number of mentors characterised the system.

Artisan Development - History of

(Continued)
21. The JIPSA6 Close-out Report presents the following
statistics. Between 1985 and 1995 the number of artisans
developed dropped from 33,000 to 22,000 per annum.
By 2004, this number had declined to a mere 4,500. By
then, the system was characterised by fragmentation
and inefficient systems for training artisans. Training
routes for artisan development were unclear and often
cost inefficient. The JIPSA initiative culminated in a firm
commitment by government, business and labour to
increase the number of artisans developed to 12,500
per annum between 2006 and 2010. The proposal was
further to increase the numbers of artisans (qualified
and in training) to 50,000 by 2010.7 Although this target
has not been achieved, trade related training doubled in
the JIPSA period.
22. JIPSA was a temporary structure which has been
institutionalised in the Human Resource Development
Council of South Africa (HRDCSA). The HRDCSA has
continued the JIPSA emphasis on artisan development
(see heading following).

NEW LEGISLATION
23. The DHET was established following the May
2009 elections as a merger of the skills development
branch of the Department of Labour, and the vocational
and higher education branches of the Department of
Education.
24. In the 2008 amendments to the Skills Development
Act8, a series of improvements to the artisan development system had been provided for, and DHET now
implemented these. This included establishing a chief
directorate for National Artisan Development within
DHET. It consists of three sub-directorates:
-- National Artisan Development
-- the National Artisan Moderation Body (NAMB)
-- RPL & Assessment

25. A fourth sub-directorate, the National Artisan Development Support Centre (NADSC) was set up at Ekurhuleni East TVET College.
26. The intention with the establishment of the chief directorate was to centralise, standardise and streamline
the system of artisan development. The chief directorate
6
Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA). Growing Priority Skills
in South Africa. Final Report on JIPSA (Pretoria, March 2010): 27
7
Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA). Consolidated Report:
Artisans (Pretoria, October 2009): 1
8
The Skills Development Amendment Act (2008) in conjunction with the National
Qualifications Act (2008)

now plays the role of driver of the national programme,

ensuring that annual targets are set, that the targets have
budgets attached and that any obstacles or impediments
to achieving targets are identified and addressed.

THE NATIONAL SKILLS ACCORD SEEKS A

UNIFIED APPROACH
27. See main article The National Skills Accord.
28. The National Skills Accord was signed between
Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), organised labour,
community constituents at Nedlac and the Minister
of Higher Education and Training in 2011. One of the
commitments of the Accord stated an agreement that
employers, in collaboration with SETAs, commit that
30,000 new artisan learners would enter training in 2011.
This target included 31% from the government sector
(Defence, Local Government and other departments),
13% from State-Owned Enterprises (Eskom, Transnet,
SAA and others) and the balance (56%) coming from the
private sector. Government committed to ensuring that
State-owned enterprises would train beyond their own
needs. Measurable targets were agreed for the larger
SOEs to be achieved by 2015: Eskom 7,000, Transnet
3,400, SAA 875, Denel 600 and Safcol, Alexcor and Infraco 60.9

THE HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

COUNCIL (HRDCSA)
29. See main article HRDCSA.
30. In response to South Africas continuing low skills
base, government established the national Human Resource Development Council of South Africa (HRDCSA), which has the responsibility for setting the Human
Resource Development Strategy for South Africa
(HRDSA). At the end of 2012, a five-point plan was approved, which included the production of intermediate
skills (artisans in particular) and professionals. A number of task teams were established, among them the
Artisan and Technician Development Technical Task
Team (ATDTT)10.
31. The core focus of the ATDTT was to improve collaboration and facilitate processes between the DHET and
the artisan development community, to create a single
9
Economic Development Department. New Growth Path: Accord 1. National Skills Accord (South Africa 2011) 10 - 11
10
Human Resource Development Council. Mid-term Report 2010 - 2012.
(Office of the Deputy President of South Africa, March 2012); 8

35

Artisan Development - History of

(Continued)
national artisan development system, and in particular
to increase the capacity, quality and relevance of the development of artisans and technicians in South Africa.11

efforts to develop, implement, monitor and evaluate the

Artisan Development provisions of the Skills Development Amendment Act.

32. This team identified three priorities in the artisan

development system, based on identified blockages:

37. It sets a target of the development of 13,000 artisans

during 2014/15, and an annual target of 18,000 between
2015 and 2018.14

1.

Obtain detailed, accurate and current data for

-- Artisan trade prioritisation
-- Workplaces and placement for learner artisans
-- Scientific target setting
-- Monitoring and evaluation

2.

3.

Establish a single guaranteed funding model for all

artisan trades applicable to all sectors and a single
artisan learner administration and grant disbursement
system
Establish a recognition of prior learning (RPL) system
that is focused on supporting people who are working
as operators and support workers12 in the engineering
field to become certified artisans

33. The ATDTT accomplished its HRDC brief in 2012.

A single guaranteed funding and learner administration
model for all artisan trades applicable to all sectors including a single artisan learner administration and grant
disbursement system was approved. The policy Generic National Artisan Learner Grant Funding and
Administration System was approved by the Minister
of Higher Education and Training in June 2013. An artisan RPL system (ARPL) that is focused on assisting the
certification of support workers in the engineering field,
has been approved and a detailed, current database for
artisan trade prioritisation, workplaces and placement
is being implemented by the DHET.
34. The DHET has also developed a seven-step
model which explains, to a range of stakeholders, the
processes and steps involved in becoming an artisan.
This model is currently13 in the process of being revised
and updated by the DHET.
35. It is nevertheless important to note that SETAs have
limited funding to support artisan training in the light of
the many funding demands they receive and so in many
sectors employers still fund the training of very significant numbers of artisans from their own resources.

The Integrated HRD Plan

36. The Integrated HRD Plan has been developed
under the HRD Coucil. It states the need to accelerate
http://www.hrdcsa.org.za/content/artisan-and-technician-development
Often called artisan assistants
13
As at the time of going to print (see Inside Front Cover for date)
11

12

36

38. There has been much discussion on the target setting process and some concerns have been expressed
that targets have been set without detailed analysis of
the demands of industry.

THE SIPS OCCUPATIONAL TEAMS

39. See main article Occupational Teams (SIPs).
40. Artisans are critical for the countrys massive Strategic Integrated Projects, which target infrastructure
development to the value of R830 billion rand over the
period 2013 - 2016. As a result, the DHET established a
special projects unit to support the entire talent development cycles for these occupations. The unit is also
responsible for the SIPs Skills Plan15 which has a dedicated chapter on the trades. See the main article SIPs
Skills Plan for details

CONCLUSION
41. Challenges found in todays artisan development
system have several causes, and originate long before
the 1994 democratic elections. Transitioning the system
effectively from the now privatised state-owned enterprises, into the new sector-focused SETA system would
have been difficult in itself, but the implementation of
the new National Qualifications Framework (NQF)
added several more layers of complexity to artisan
development.
42. Even since 2008, the artisan development environment has continued to witness massive systemic
changes. The NQF has morphed into three sub-frameworks, including the new Occupational Qualifications
Sub-framework, under the QCTO, and a new Department of Higher Education & Training has also been
established to consolidate all post-school education
and training, merging functions previously situated
in the Department of Labour and the Department of
Education.
Human Resource Development Council. 2014 - 2018: National Integrated
Human Resource Development Plan; (HRDC): 34
15
Officially titled Skills For & Through SIPs
14

Artisan Development - History of

(Continued)
43. The history of artisan development in South Africa
explains why the country has struggled for so long to
arrive at an effective solution, and why much work still
lies ahead before a period of relative stability can be
expected.

RESOURCES
ss

Historical background
-- The JIPSA Consolidated Report: Artisans (2009)

SEE ALSO

ss

Legislation, List of

ss

NAMB - National Artisan Moderation Body on page

38

ss

SIPs Skills Plan

CONTRIBUTORS
44. View short profiles of the contributors in the section
Contributor Biographies (pg 94).
-- Brian Angus
-- Blanche Engelbrecht

ss

Apprenticeships

-- Janet Lopes

ss

Artisan development Dual system model

-- Christoph Vorwerk

ss

Artisan Development on page 16

ss

Artisan Development - Funding on page 26

ss

Artisan Development - History of on page 32

ss

Artisan development RPL

ss

Artisan development Success stories

ss

Artisan development grants

37

NAMB - National Artisan Moderation Body

OVERVIEW

INDLELA and COTT

1. See the related article Artisan Development (pg

16).

8. The artisan development unit within DHET was previously called INDLELA3, and prior to that the Central
Organization for Trade Testing (COTT).

2. The main responsibility of the NAMB is to coordinate

artisan development nationally to achieve a single, common national standard across all economic sectors.
3. The NAMB is established in terms of Section 26A (1)
(a) of the Skills Development Act and is an operational
unit of the Department of Higher Education and Training. It is not a public entity or a state-owned company.
4. The Director General of the DHET is the accounting
officer of the NAMB in terms of the Public Finance Management Act and has established the NAMB under the
Chief Directorate: Indlela based in Olifantsfontein1.

HISTORY
5. See main article Artisan Development - History of
(pg 32) for more history of the artisan system.
6. Skills development (which includes artisan development) is regulated by a single national policy regime
that is based on the primary legislation of the Skills Development Act, Act 97 of 1998. The Skills Development
Act falls under the responsibility of the Minister of Higher Education and Training in South Africa.
7. During 2008, the Skills Development Act was amended2 to strengthen the national policy that governs artisan development in South Africa. One of the critical
outcomes of the amendment was the establishment
of a National Artisan Moderation Body (NAMB) on 30
November 2010 within the DHET to coordinate artisan
development in the country. The national artisan development system is being rebuilt from a low base, with
the NAMB being responsible for the revival and growth
of artisan development. The National Development Plan
sets a target of 30,000 qualified artisans a year by 2030.
Currently some 14,000 are qualifying annually on average and so this is an ambitious target.

9. In the past, this was the only national centre where

apprentices could do the trade tests and qualify as
artisans through what was referred to as a red seal
(official) certificate. Various private decentralized trade
test centres have since been established as private providers and can acquire trade testing status by applying
for accreditation through the different SETAs offering
the specific trades. The decentralization and frequently
the inadequacy of data as well as inconsistencies in the
provision of quality standardised trade tests lead to the
establishment of a National Artisan Moderation Body
(NAMB).
10. The NAMB is located at INDLELA, in order to
leverage existing resources and artisan development
experience.

OBJECTIVES
11. The operational objective of the NAMB is:
12. to plan, develop, implement, coordinate,
monitor and evaluate a single national artisan
development system, and support the growth
of the public TVET College system by linking
all quality assurance artisan learning processes with TVET Colleges.
13. The new strategic and operational plans of the
NAMB were not available at the time of going to
publication.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

14. The main responsibility of the NAMB is to coordinate artisan development nationally to achieve a single,
common national standard across all economic sectors.
This includes the responsibility to develop, implement
and manage systems and processes to operationalise
the:
ss

Formerly the Department of Labour Central Organisation for Trade Testing,

COTT
2
Skills Development Amendment Act Nr 37 of 2008
1

38

Statutory functions of the NAMB (see heading

following)

3
Meaning The Way in Zulu. INDLELA is also the name of the primary DHET
trade test centre at Olifantsfontein, where the NAMB is based and is an acronym
for Institute for the National Development of Learnerships, Employment Skills
and Labour Assessments

NAMB - National Artisan Moderation Body

(Continued)
ss

Listing of occupations as trades in the Government

Gazette
-- Until a trade is listed in the gazette it does not have
national legal standing

ss

Registration of qualified artisans

ss

Regulation of artisan trade testing

ss

Functions of an assessment quality partner for all

listed artisan trades, and

ss

The National Artisan Moderation Forum to standardise

all quality assurance functions of artisan development.

15. Government Gazette Nr 356254 Listing of Occupations as Trades for which Artisan Qualifications are
Required delegated the functions of an Assessment
Quality Partner to the NAMB from the Quality Council
for Trades and Occupations. This was provided for in
Section 26I of the Skills Development Amendment Act
2008.

are in South Africa, which trade they are registered for,

and their employment status.
19. They also link apprentices to relevant companies
based on the employers criteria and apprentices skills,
for the required workplace learning component.
20. The NAMB plans interview and employment workshops which aim to give students a real interview experience and tips on how to communicate as well as how
to conduct themselves in an interview and workplace
once their interviews have been successful5.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

??

-- No, you need to have an employment contract with

an employer for the duration of the apprenticeship.
At the employer you will do structured workplace
experience and go to a workshop for practical
training.

FUNCTIONS
??

16. The NAMB is required by Section 26A(2) of the SDA

to perform the following statutory functions:
ss

Monitor the performance of accredited artisan trade

test centres

ss

Moderate artisan trade tests

ss

Develop, maintain and apply a national database

of instruments for assessments and moderation of
artisan trade tests

ss

Develop and maintain a national database of

registered artisan trade assessors and moderators

ss

Record artisan achievements (assessment results)

ss

Determine appeals against assessment decisions

ss

Recommend certification of artisans to the Quality

Council for Trades and Occupations

??

Can a trade test only be done at Indlela?

-- No, at this stage there are approximately 300
accredited trade test centres across the country. You
can contact Indlela to locate a trade test centre near
you.

CONTACT DETAILS
Indlela Head Office
Telephone
Fax
Email
Postal address
Physical address

17. In pursuit of the above functions, the NAMB offers

several services. The services listed below are offered
by the NADSC (National Artisan Development Support
Centre), based in Springs.

How long does it take to become an artisan?

-- There are various routes to becoming an artisan.
The minimum duration is just over 3 years. See the
section Accelerated Artisan Training Programme
for other relevant information.

SERVICES

18. The NAMB has a database through which they collect artisan related information and details that are required in order to record and keep track of all qualified
artisans that are available within the country as well as
their progress regarding employment and work based
training. It can be used for reporting, placement and
record keeping. This will indicate how many artisans

Am I registered as an apprentice if I register myself on

the NAMB web-site?

Website

011 206 100

011 316 4763
nadscinfo@dhet.gov.za
Private Bag X5, Olifantsfontein, 1665
Old Pretoria/Kempton Park Road,
Olifantsfontein
http://nadsc.dhet.gov.za

http://nadsc.dhet.gov.za/

31 August 2012

39

NAMB - National Artisan Moderation Body

(Continued)
National Artisan Development Support
Centre (NADSC)
Telephone
Fax
Email
Postal address
Physical address
Website

011 736 4400 or 086 035

6635
086 535 9768
nadscinfo@dhet.gov.za
Private Bag X79, Springs
1560
Sam Ngema Rd, KwaThema, Springs
http://nadsc.dhet.gov.za/

LINKS
List of accredited testing centres
This list is available at http://nadsc.dhet.gov.za (click on
other links)
A list of 17 testing centres, with information of the trades
for which they are accredited, is available on the NADSC
website. It is recommended that you contact NAMB if you do
not find a testing centre for the trade you are interested in in
your area
List of accredited skills providers
This list is available at http://nadsc.dhet.gov.za (click on
other links)
A list of 28 accredited providers, with information of the
trades for which they are accredited, is available on the
NADSC website. It can be expected that this is a changing
figure, and is is recommended that you contact NAMB if you
do not find a provider for the trade you are interested in in
your area

40

SEE ALSO
ss

Artisan Development (pg 16)

ss

Artisan Development - Success Stories

ss

Assessment Quality Partners

ss

Legislation, List of

ss

National Development Plan

ss

NSDS III

ss

QCTO - Quality Council for Trades & Occupations

ss

White Paper for Post-school Education & Training

CONTRIBUTORS
21. View short profiles of the contributors in the section
Contributor Biographies (pg 94).
-- Blanche Engelbrecht

SETA Sector - Grant Regulations, Amended

OVERVIEW
1. The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr
Nzimande, published amendments to the SETA Grant
Regulations that govern the allocation of monies received by SETAs on 3 December 2013. The amended
Regulations regarding funds received by a SETA came
into effect on 1 April 2013 (Government Gazette no.
35940, published on 3 December 2012).

PURPOSE
2. The Grant Regulations mainly govern the SETA allocation of mandatory and discretionary grants from the
skills levy contributions paid by employers.
3. The intention of these amendments was to:
ss

discourage the accumulation of SETA surplus funds

ss

promote increased utilisation of PIVOTAL1

programmes

ss

create a framework within which expanded use is

made of public education and training providers

ss

7. The Amended Grant Regulations took an extended

period of time to become promulgated. Regulations Nr
34932 of 12 January 2012 was initially published with
significantly smaller changes to the existing grant levy
system. It proposed reducing the mandatory grant from
50% to 40% and allowing a new PIVOTAL grant of 10%
to take its place.

THE REGULATION DOCUMENT

8. Regulations Nr 35940 of 3 December 2012 is 30
pages long and has been amended since then by Regulations Nr 36655 of 15 July 2013.
9. The document contains the following headings:
-- Definitions
-- Limitation on administration cost of a SETA

aim at improving the quality of labour market

information submitted by companies in the form of
workplace skills plans, annual training and PIVOTAL
reports

-- SETA finances and financial management

ss

regulate the money that is spent on SETA

administration, and,

-- Allocation of discretionary grants by a SETA

ss

provide for SETAs to contribute to the cost of the work

of the Quality Council for Trade and Occupations
(QCTO).

BACKGROUND
4. The See also heading at the end of this article links
to related articlea in this publication which will provide
background on the funding of the skills development
system.
5. Employers with an annual payroll exceeding
R500,000 are required by law to pay 1% of payroll as
a Skills Development Levy (SDL) to the South African
Revenue Service (SARS). Of this, 80% is transferred to
SETAs to utilise as grants to facilitate skills development. The total amount collected from employers per
annum is approximately R13 billion2. Employers are
liable to a portion of this levy to be paid back to them by
their SETA should they meet qualifying criteria.
Professional, Vocational, Technical and Academic Learning (PIVOTAL) programmes leading to qualifications or part qualifications
2
The total levy income for 2014/15 was R13,2 billion as reported in the Department of Higher Education & Training Strategic Plan 2015/16 available at
https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/20537/
1

6. Prior to the December 2012 Amendments, employers could receive 50% of the levy they paid back as a
mandatory grant, and an additional 20% of all collected
levies were available as discretionary grants.

-- Allocation of mandatory grants by a SETA

-- Mandatory grants paid to levy paying employers

-- Approval of grants by a SETA

-- Grant disbursement schedule
-- Payment for services rendered by a SETA
-- Repeal of regulations previously published
-- Short title and commencement
-- Annexures (1 - 3)

10. DHET has also issued a 17 page guideline document on implementation of the regulations for SETAs
(see Resources below) which is well worth reading in order to understand the intention behind the
regulations..

CHANGES
SETA funds
11. SETAs may use 10 % of their skills levy income
for administration costs (a reduction from 12% under the
earlier grant regulations). Half a percent of their administration budget is paid over to the QCTO to assist with
their administration costs.

41

SETA Sector - Grant Regulations, Amended

(Continued)
12. SETAs are required to have spent or committed
through actual contractual obligations at least 95% of
discretionary funds (see below) in any financial year,
and are allowed a maximum of 5% of uncommitted
funds to be carried over to the next financial year. Any
remaining surplus must be paid over into the National
Skills Fund by 1 October of each year.

Mandatory grants
The intention of the legislation and regulations is that
mandatory grants are used as an incentive to employers
to plan and implement training for their employees and
create training and work experience opportunities for
unemployed people.
Department of Higher Education & Training. Guidelines on the
Implementation of SETA Grant Regulations (Pretoria: Government
Printing Works, 2013): 10.

13. The mandatory grant has been reduced from 50%

of an employers contribution towards the skills levy, to
20% of their contribution.
14. The DHET guidelines stress the importance of getting accurate skills data from employers. For this reason
it mandates them to put in place WSP and ATR quality
assurance mechanisms.
15. For example, an employer paying R1,000,000 per
year in skills levy could previously claim back R500,000
when they submitted a Workplace Skills Plan (WSP)
and Annual Training Report (ATR) to their SETA. This
has now been reduced to R200,000. The 30% difference
(or R300,000 in the example) is now reallocated to the
discretionary grants as described below.

Discretionary grants
The purpose of the discretionary grants is for the
SETA to use them to implement their SSP. These are
not grants that employers are entitled to, but grants the
SETA deploys to achieve its objectives in relation to the
development of the sector.
Department of Higher Education & Training. Guidelines on the
Implementation of SETA Grant Regulations (Pretoria: Government
Printing Works, 2013): 10.

16. The remaining skills levy funds (50% of the employers contribution) are available in the form of discretionary grants. Whereas the mandatory grant is seen as an
incentive to employers, the discretionary grant is seen
as a lever to fund the implementation of the SETAs Sector Skills Plan.

42

PIVOTAL reports and programmes

17. See the article Pivotal Programmes for more
detail.
18. The regulations require SETAs to spend 80% of their
discretionary funds on PIVOTAL programmes. This is
known as a PIVOTAL grant and is paid on submission
to, and approval by the SETA of a PIVOTAL report.
Discretionary Grant Policy
SETAs must develop strategy, plans and policies
and not be constrained by detailed arbitrary targets
set centrally. The absence of rigid rules and centrally
determined allocations in the Grant Regulations needs to
be understood in this context. The intention is that SETAs
actively engage in putting in place policies designed to
achieve the goals set out in their Sector Skills Plan.
Department of Higher Education & Training. Guidelines on the
Implementation of SETA Grant Regulations (Pretoria: Government
Printing Works, 2013): 7.

19. A Discretionary Grant Policy must be developed by

each SETA and is intended to directly fund the objectives of its Sector Skills Plan.
20. This policy explains the criteria for accessing any
discretionary grant from the discretionary pool of funds.
Through this policy, SETAs clarify how they will allocate
grants to prioritise programmes delivered by public
training institutions (TVET Colleges, Universities of
Technology and Universities).
21. Failure to have in place proper grant policies, implement them and monitor their effectiveness, is cause
for a qualified audit from the Auditor General.

Other changes
Regularity of payments
22. The DHET also uses the amendments to address irregular payments from SETAs to employers, especially
small businesses:
Employers who are genuinely planning and implementing training should be able to do so on the basis
of a regular flow of funds, and not be in a position of
having to chase their SETA for payment or experience
cash flow problems. This is important for all companies,
but in particular smaller companies. It is a commitment
of government to pay what is due to small businesses
timeously and SETAs must show commitment to that by
paying what is owed to small businesses on time.
Department of Higher Education & Training. Guidelines on the
Implementation of SETA Grant Regulations (Pretoria: Government
Printing Works, 2013): 10.

SETA Sector - Grant Regulations, Amended

(Continued)
23. DHET also suggests greater flexibility of payments
for small businesses.

ANALYSIS
Disincentive to employer participation
24. The reduction in the mandatory grant is significant
and employers will have to increasingly access discretionary grants to fund their skills development projects.
25. Some employers, especially small and medium
sized employers, have expressed the opinion that the
effort to submit a WSP and ATR, as required to access
the grant, is simply not worth the effort and they will rather write-off the levy. If this becomes a trend across
the economy, it is unfortunate, as the WSP and ATRs are
important tools that SETAs utilise to assist in determining scarce skills in their respective sectors. DHET is
currently engaged in a process to improve the quality of
scarce skills information, and this could be affected by
less employer participation (see Labour Market Intelligence Partnership).
26. Another challenge is that the submission of a WSP
and ATR is a prerequisite for a company to access
SETA discretionary funds. If there is a decrease in the
number of companies submitting these documents,
fewer companies will be able to access discretionary
funds for skills development.

Disincentive to diversity of provision

One of the problems that the Grant Regulations are
trying to address is the way that current grant disbursement is being done in a manner that disproportionately
involves private education and training providers in
delivery of skills development programmes. In general
there is very limited use of Universities, public FET
colleges and public ABET centres.
Department of Higher Education & Training. Guidelines on the
Implementation of SETA Grant Regulations (Pretoria: Government
Printing Works, 2013): 5.

27. The amendments are clearly focused on using the

money from the skills levy predominantly for training
towards qualifications offered by public colleges and
universities, as prioritised in the White Paper for Postschool Education & Training. However at the same time,
SETAs are required to support programmes from these
institutions which offer work integrated learning (not just
theory and simulated learning). In practice this means
public institutions will need to focus more effort on integrating workplace learning into their programmes in

order to attract SETA funding. This will require curriculum innovation and reform. Universities of technology
and TVET colleges are better placed to offer such programmes, but even traditional research driven universities can partner with other institutions to offer suitable
programmes.
28. The potential weakness of this approach is the lack
of a transitional funding mechanism to support for the
valuable role that certain private providers have up until
now been playing in the provision of shorter courses
and Continuing Professional Development, for example
in the IT, Communications and other technology driven
industries.
29. In largely focusing on skills development towards
full NQF qualifications, one of the challenges is that such
qualifications are primarily aimed at preparing youth
for formal employment, where work opportunities are
decreasing. Little incentive is provided in the regulations for shorter technical skills courses and Continuing
Professional Development. There is also less scope for
SMEs, NGOs and community based organisations to
partake in such a system, as they typically need shorter
learning programmes geared to immediate needs in
the organisation, rather than longer and more expensive
qualifications.
30. The DHET guidelines however also state: ... a
more reasonable balance between private and public provision... cannot be determined by the Department, but must be based on a sound analysis of supply
side conditions in each sector, including the capacity
that exists across the country and the relevance of the
various programme options to the needs of the sector.
The guidelines go on to emphasise SETA policies and
procedures should not prohibit public providers from
participating.

Widening the base

31. The funding allocations in the amended Regulations address a narrower range of skills needs than
seen in previous iterations of the Regulations during
NSDS I - NSDS III, with the emphasis shifting to public
institutions and longer learning programmes. It will
make funding available to the public educational system which is in serious need of upgrades and investment (see for example the article TVET Sector - The
turnaround strategy). This is likely to give access to
post school learning opportunities to many thousands
of youth who would otherwise have no further access.
43

SETA Sector - Grant Regulations, Amended

(Continued)
32. This gain is however achieved at the cost of the
competing demands of improving workplace productivity and company competitiveness, increasing employment, addressing existing inequalities in the workforce,
promoting Black Economic Empowerment, and offering
workplace exposure and mentorship to inexperienced
graduates. It is possible that the restructured National
Skills Fund (NSF) will adopt some of these dropped priorities, and also that the incentives provided under the
new BEE Codes will adopt others.

Refined the preamble to specify the intent of the

regulations more narrowly
Redefined mandatory grant and surplus as well
as minor changes to the documents wording
ss

The official DHET Guidelines on the Implementation

of SETA Grant Regulations is 17 pages long and easy
to read. It provides useful insight into the intentions
behind the Regulations and is available from www.
mict.org.za

ss

Each SETA website will have a web page dedicated

to their grants. This should include their discretionary
grant policy and guidelines on how and when to claim
the grants.

33. See the article White Paper for Post-school Education & Training for more detail on the strategy behind
the amended grant regulations.

THE FUTURE
34. Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) has challenged
the legality of the amendments, and at the time of going
to print (see inside front cover), this matter has not yet
been heard in the courts (it is scheduled for 22 - 26 June
2015). In the meantime, SETAs are operating on the
basis of the amended regulations.
35. New grant regulations may follow the inauguration
of NSDS IV which will run from 2017 - 2022 but given
that the White Paper on Post-school Education & Training was issued in January 2014, and outlines the DHETs
vision up until 2030, it is not likely that any major changes will occur in the regulations.

-- For example: the W&RSETA grants web page

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

??

-- Short courses that are not NQF registered can be

indicated in the WSP and ATR, for which a company
receives the mandatory grant of 20%
??

??

??

??

The primary amendment document - Regulations Nr

35940 of 3 December 2012

For example, Services SETA had a policy in place

under the previous grant regulations, whereby
they would not pay mandatory grants to employers
who implemented less than 66% of their planned
training

-- There are three annexures to the Regulations

ss

A subsequent minor amendment - Regulations Nr

36655 of 15 July 2013
-- This was a five page amendment to the Regulations
Nr 35940 which made the following changes:

44

Will my SETA withhold my mandatory grant payment

if I have not implemented my planned training from
last year, as reflected in my WSP?
-- This varies from SETA to SETA. In general SETAs
must quality assure WSPs and ATRs. How they do
this varies from sector to sector. Check your SETAs
website to view their WSP and ATR guidelines to
see if they specify details. Alternatively contact
their Skills Development Manager and query this in
advance of your reporting.

-- They proposed smaller changes to the mandatory

and discretionary grants than were later adopted

Annexure 2 - providing the format for the WSP,

ATR, PIVOTAL plan and PIVOTAL training report
for the private sector

What happens to mandatory grants that are not

claimed by companies?
-- Unclaimed mandatory grants are transferred to the
SETAs discretionary fund

The original draft amendments - Regulations Nr 34932

of 12 January 2012

Annexure 1 - referencing previous Regulations that

have been repealed

How frequently does a SETA pay out the mandatory

grant?
-- At least quarterly

-- These amendments were superseded by

Regulations Nr 35940 (below)

ss

When do I need to submit the WSP/mandatory grant

application:
-- 30 April annually

RESOURCES
ss

How much can I claim for short courses?

??

Will my SETA withhold my mandatory grant payments

if my labour representative has not co-signed the WSP
/ ATR?
-- If an employer has a recognition agreement in place
with a union then your SETA will require labour signoff

SETA Sector - Grant Regulations, Amended

(Continued)
-- Under the initial grant regulations, labour signoff was a requirement for all employers of more
than 50 people. This changed with Regulations Nr
27801 (18 July 2005) which no longer referenced the
requirement for labour sign-off.

SEE ALSO
ss

Discretionary Grant (DG), The

ss

Learnership Grants

ss

Legislation, List of

ss

Levy Grant System, The

ss

Mandatory Grant (MG), The

ss

National Skills Development Strategy

ss

NSDS III

ss

Pivotal Programmes

ss

QCTO - Quality Council for Trades & Occupations

ss

SETA Sector - Sector Skills Plans

ss

SETAs, The - Overview

ss

Sector skills planning

ss

Skills Development Levy (SDL), The

ss

TVET Sector - The turnaround strategy

ss

White Paper for Post-school Education & Training

ss

Workplace skills planning

ss

NSF - National Skills Fund

CONTRIBUTORS
36. View short profiles of the contributors in the section
Contributor Biographies (pg 94).
-- Blanche Engelbrecht

45

SETAs - Finance and Accounting

Services SETA FASSET

The career call

that counts
One call can pave the way for you or your companys future with tax benefits, incentive programmes and cash grants.

KEY STATS
ABOUT US
Fasset is the Finance and Accounting Services Sector Education and
Training Authority (SETA).
The Financial and Accounting Services Sector refers to the organisations served by Fasset.
This sector includes:
investment entities and trusts
and company secretary services; stockbroking and financial

As at 31 March 2014 Fasset has:

markets; financial development
organisations; accounting, bookkeeping, auditing and tax services; business and management
consulting services; the South
African Revenue Service; the national and provincial treasuries;
and other activities auxiliary to
financial intermediation, such as
debt collection.

ACHIEVEMENTS
Fasset has retained its reputation for
being a performance-driven organisation. The Setas fourteenth year of
operation, and third year of the implementation of NSDS III, has proven
a very successful year.
During the 2013/2014 financial year
Fasset received an Award from the
Auditor-General of South Africa for a
clean PFMA Audit Report in category National F. Fasset was one of only
five public entities to be recognised.
This achievement confirms that Fasset is living the shared organisational
values of professionalism, accountability and ethics.
Adopting a pipeline approach to
skills development, Fasset funds
46

Bridging Programmes for Access

into Higher Education (NQF Level
5), Bridging Programmes for Access
into Employment (NQF Level 6-7)
and Academic Programmes which
lead to the completion of a qualification and or a professional designation (NQF Level 6-8).
A highlight during the period is the
innovative work which Fasset is doing in TVET (previously FET), Colleges; Fasset has not operated in
this space historically, as employers
generally hire graduates with postgraduate qualifications. However,
inroads are being made. Many Fasset employers, who may not have
previously considered such candi-

14 unqualified audits
Over 4 200 levy-paying and nonlevy-paying organisations
30 registered Learnerships
Registered 4 273 new learners
on Fasset Learnerships
33 820 learners have completed
Fasset Learnerships
Allocated over R573 million to
Development Projects and 19
114 individuals have benefitted
from these
dates, are providing them with the
workplace experience required to
complete their TVET qualification.
Many employers are now seeing
these learners as an alternative pool
for mid-level recruitment.
Fasset continues to build its workplace skills pipeline and support
continuous professional development through the Setas Lifelong
Learning programme where the
number of attendees since inception
is now over 116 000.

SETAs - FASSET
(Continued)

PLANS 2014/15
Prospects for the year ahead are
good with a strong national focus on
capacitating TVET Colleges, coupled with better public awareness
of these offerings, among employers
and learners alike, will enhance employment prospects for many young
South Africans.

initiatives and incentives. It is only

by doing so that we will be able to
address skills formation across the
post-school pipeline.
Fassets Board has identified three
skills development priorities for the
year ahead which have been incorporated into the Fasset mission:

Fasset urges stakeholders to avail

themselves of every opportunity to
empower and upskill their employees through Fassets various skills

Develop and grow the skills

required in the sector; and
Facilitate transformation of the
finance and accountancy sector.

Increase the flow of new finance

and accountancy entrants to
employment;

TVET COLLEGE PARTNERSHIPS

Fasset has been appointed as the
lead Seta at two TVET Colleges in
the Limpopo province.
Fasset has appointed nine Brand
Ambassadors at TVET Colleges.
Brand Ambassadors have proved
very successful in terms of extending Fassets footprint in rural areas
and townships. In addition, Fasset
has approved four TVET Projects: a
Learner Work Placement Project, a
Research Project, a Learner Enrichment Project, and a TVET Capacitation Project.

The TVET Learner Work Placement

Project will provide 150 TVET graduates, who have their N6 qualification,
with 18 months work experience enabling them to obtain their National
Diploma. Fasset is working with the
Ekurhuleni West College and the
Tshwane North College.
The Research Project will track employers perceptions of learners
throughout the Learner Work Placement Project. Insights will inform future projects.

The Learner Enrichment Project

will enhance skills taught on the
NCV learners Life Orientation Programme.
The TVET Capacitation Project entails a professional body capacitating lecturers and learners by offering
them a professional body qualification.

CONTACT DETAILS
Name

Position

Telephone

Email

Cheryl James

Chief Executive Officer

011 476 8570

fassetcallcentre@fasset.org.za

Lesego Lebuso

Chief Operations Officer

011 476 8570

fassetcallcentre@fasset.org.za

Lauren Derman

Director: Research

011 476 8570

fassetcallcentre@fasset.org.za

Natercia Faustino

Director: Processing and Quality Assurance

011 476 8570

fassetcallcentre@fasset.org.za

Romaana McKinnon

Communications Manager

Fasset Call Centre

011 476 8570

fassetcallcentre@fasset.org.za

086 101 0001

fassetcallcentre@fasset.org.za

Make the future count

www.fasset.org.za
47

48

PROVIDER INDEX
BY SPECIALISATION
Advertisers are requested to select a single section placement, or specialisation, for each advert. This helps readers identify
service providers in specific fields of interest. The specialisation is self-reported data. Each advert in this publication is hyperlinked to the providers website.

ADULT & BASIC EDUCATION & TRAINING.......................................................... 50

AGRICULTURAL TRAINING (AGRISETA)............................................................... 51
CHANGE MANAGEMENT....................................................................................... 53
COACHING AND MENTORING.............................................................................. 53
CUSTOMER SERVICE, SALES AND MARKETING............................................... 53
DIVERSITY AND TRANSFORMATION MANAGEMENT...................................... 54
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.............................................................................. 55
E-LEARNING............................................................................................................... 62
ETD PRACTITIONER TRAINING (ETDP SETA).................................................... 64
FINANCE & ACCOUNTING (FASSET)................................................................... 65
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS CONSULTANTS & LABOUR LAWYERS.................... 67
IT TRAINING (MICT)................................................................................................. 67
LEADERSHIP............................................................................................................... 69
LEARNERSHIPS.......................................................................................................... 71
ORGANISATIONAL CONSULTING ......................................................................... 73
MANAGEMENT & SUPERVISORY DEVELOPMENT .......................................... 73
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TRAINING................................................................... 76
RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING (RPL)....................................................... 78
RISK & CREDIT MANAGEMENT............................................................................. 78
TECHNICAL & TRADES............................................................................................ 85
TRAINING MANAGEMENT & STRATEGY............................................................. 90
TRAINING MATERIALS & DESIGN......................................................................... 92

49

50

Adult & Basic Education & Training

Agricultural Training (AGRISETA)

51

Banking

52

Accredited Providers
BANKSETA
www.bankseta.org.za
086 102 0002
1. Please verify with the SETA above that
the providers accreditation has not
expired

3. BEE Level reported here is self-reported; please obtain a BEE verification

certificate from the provider

2. In the electronic and online versions of

this publication the website URL is a
hyperlink

4. NQF Levels here indicates the range of

applied competencies addressed by the
service providers learning programmes,
Accredi-tation
Nr

Phone

ASISA Academy

557048

021 673 1626

ATM Solutions Pty (Ltd)

557072

0115315300

BizPro Training (Pty) Ltd

557068

0117897549

Blue Financial Services (pty) Ltd

557067

012 990 4300

Provider Name

Mind-the-gap

as defined by SAQA here. It does not

necessarily indicate ETQA programme
approval level but serves as a guideline
as to the target level of learners. This is
self-reported data.

Website

0117048000

Bwise Training Solutions CC

557081

0825522577

Chartall Business College

557045

0114673215

Compuscan Academy

557033

021 888 6000

Culhane Consulting

557034

082 901 5772 www.culhanecon.co.za

Debt Advise Consulting

557077

0861115767

Development Bank Of Southern Africa

Limited

557082

0113133911

EG Solutions

557056

010 003 0226

Felix Risk Training Consultants

557062

031 313 3308 www.frtc.co.za

Geometric Progression

557066

021 794 8332

Guarantee Trust VB (Pty)Ltd

557070

0317029682

ICAP South Africa

557047

0112769030

Idea Junction Consultancy

557027

011 646 7815

Innovative Training Solutions

557085

084 499 6243

Insite Settlements Network

557042

0218867617

IQbusiness Solutions

557086

011 259 4000

Kaizen Intergrated Management Services

557075

0118231107

Life Empowerment Training Skills (Pty) Ltd

557041

0114873388

Lionize Consulting

557084

011 039 0495

Milpark Business School (Pty) Ltd

557058

0118059661

Letsatsi Small Business Solutions

557064

0711333139

OnTrack Learning Solutions CC

557046

Plumb Line Risk Alignment

557024

Rendzo Enterprise Support Institute Pty Ltd

557080

011 4921128

SISO Foundation

557069

0118861240

Retail Training Provider - SBSA

557003

0116363515

Sugarbush Training and Development

557083

011 036 5886

The Academy of Financial Markets

557022

011 782 2868

The Banking and Financial Services Campus

557026

0118339121

WASA

557074

0733565177

www.chartall.co.za

www.iqbusiness.co.za

BEE
Level

NQF
Levels

1-5

3-6

4-5

Change Management

Coaching and Mentoring

Customer Service, Sales and Marketing

53

54

Diversity and Transformation Management

Educational Institutions

55

56

Provider Directory

Provider Directory

57

58

Educational Institutions

Educational Institutions

59

60

Educational Institutions

Educational Institutions

61

62

e-Learning

e-Learning

63

64

ETD Practitioner Training (ETDP SETA)

Finance & Accounting (FASSET)

65

66

Health & Welfare (HWSETA)

HR Practitioner Training

Industrial Relations Consultants & Labour Lawyers

IT Training (MICT)

67

68

IT Training (MICT)

Leadership

69

70

Leadership

Learnerships

71

72

Management & Supervisory Development

Management & Supervisory Development

Organisational Consulting

73

74

Organisational Consulting

Organisational Consulting

75

76

Project management Training

Public & Development Management (PSETA)

77

78

Risk & Credit Management

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

79

80

Secretarial & Administration Skills

Skills Development Services & NQF Consulting

81

82

Skills Development Services & NQF Consulting

Skills Development Services & NQF Consulting

83

84

Skills Development Services & NQF Consulting

Technical & Trades

85

86

Technical & Trades

88

Technical & Trades

90

Tourism & Hospitality (CATHSSETA)

Training Management & Strategy

Training Management & Strategy

91

92

Training Materials & Design

PROVIDER INDEX
ALPHABETICAL
Abakholwe Community Developers 85

HWSETA 66

Academy Training Group 61, 64, 65, 67, 82, 90

IQbusiness Solutions 52

Agriskills Transfer 61

Khulisane Academy 64

Argo 70

LPI 83, 92

BankSETA 4

NorthWest University - Potchefstroom Campus 51, 58, 86

Boston Group, The 50, 56, 61, 65, 72, 73, 80, 94
Change Management Facilitation 53, 67, 73
Chartall Business College 52, 79, 92
CompuScan Academy 53, 71, 78
David Cartwright Attorneys 67
Edu-Loan 60
EOH 14, 26, 37, 48, 50, 53, 63, 64, 68, 71, 78, 83, 88, 90, 92

PMI - Human Capital Development Solutions 32, 74, 79, 88

Progression 52, 54, 84, 88
Proserv South Africa 91
Resonance Institute of Learning 61
Sasol 17, 31, 50, 54, 97
Siyanqoba 55
Skills for Africa 88

Exp Regulatory Compliance Consulting 70, 84

Faculty Training Institute 76
FASSET 13, 65, 46, 47, 6, 65, 95, 98

South African Board for People Practices (SABPP) 54, 67, 73,
84, 96
Southern African Institute of Government Auditors 77

Felix Risk Training Consultants 52

TalentLine Consulting Group 70, 73

Foundation of School Leadership and Management 69

Telos Partners SA 53

FR Research 64, 83

Thrive Learning Facilitation 81

Fuel Online 62

Transnet 25, 32, 35, 87, 89

Harambee 40, 45, 90

93

Contributor Biographies
ANGUS, BRIAN

LOPES, JANET

Brian has worked in the areas of human resources, training

and industrial relations and was previously Group Human
Resources Director for the Rennie Group of companies
(now Bidvest). He joined SEIFSA (the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of SA) as CEO in 1987 and retired
in 2009. He has been part of the working group of Business
Leadership SA (BLSA) looking at ways of improving training
in SA and has focused specifically on artisan development.
At the time of publication he is the business convenor of the
Artisan Development Technical Task Team (AD TTT) under
the Human Resource Development Council of SA (HRDCSA). He is also a member of the HRDC itself and a member
of BUSAs Sub Committee on Education and Training. Brian
can be contacted at brian.angus8839@gmail.com.

Janet Lopes works in the sphere of skills development. She

was the Skills Development Executive of SEIFSA (Steel and
Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa) for over
30 years. She is currently a skills adviser to BLSA (Business
Leadership South Africa). She has a particular interest in
skills development in general and artisan training in particular. She is a member of the Human Resource Development
Council (HRDC) and the Artisan Development Monitoring
and Evaluation Team of the Council as well as a member
of BUSA's Subcommittee on Education and Training. Janet is
also an experienced journalist with wide international experience in the sphere of skills development. She can be contacted on janetlopes2005@hotmail.com.

Brian contributed to the following chapters:

ss

Artisan Development on page 16

ss

Artisan Development - History of on page 32

ENGELBRECHT, BLANCHE
Blanche was Skills Planning Manager at FoodBev SETA for
12 years, and then Acting CEO. For the past 18 months she
has been involved in a range of consulting projects in the
skills development arena. As part of a small consulting team,
they did an expenditure and performance review for National
Treasury on artisan development, drafted sector skills plans
for two SETAs, and assisted TVET Colleges to start implementing green skills in their curricula. Blanche can be contacted at: blanche.engel@gmail.com.
Blanche contributed to the following chapters:
ss

Artisan Development on page 16

ss

Artisan Development - Funding on page 26

ss

Artisan Development - History of on page 32

ss

NAMB - National Artisan Moderation Body on page 38

ss

SETA Sector - Grant Regulations, Amended on page 41

Janet contributed to the following chapters:

ss

Artisan Development on page 16

ss

Artisan Development - History of on page 32

VORWERK, CHRISTOPH
Chris Vorwerk has an extensive background in education
and industrial training. He developed and helped implement
a training plan for the plastics industry in the mid-1990s,
which eventually reached 14,000 of the 30,000 employees
in the industry and which persisted informally long after the
SETAs took over. This plan pre-figured many components
of the NQF and the national skills strategy. He has been
active at company, industry, SETA and national policy level
since the early 1990s. He has also been involved in facilitating the development of unit standards and qualification,
the development of curricula and learning materials for unit
standards-based qualifications and the implementation of
learnerships. Chris has provided technical support to the Department of Labour (via GTZ) since 2004 and has been part
of its NQF Review Task Team since it was established. His
main interest is in the re-invigorating the power of workplace
learning.
Chris contributed to the following chapters:

94

ss

Artisan Development on page 16

ss

Artisan Development - History of on page 32

CONTACT DETAILS
CONTACT DETAILS OF SETAS
More contact detail information will follow in the next version update of this publication. This will include regional contact
details of SETAs, public TVET college and campus details, public university details, and key national and provincial contact
details. Should any of the contact details below be incorrect please let us know.

HEAD OFFICE
TELEPHONE

SETA ABBREVIATION

SETA NAME IN FULL

AGRISETA

Agricultural

(012) 301 5600

www.agriseta.co.za

BANKSETA

Banking

(011) 805 9661

www.bankseta.org.za

(011) 217 0600

www.cathsseta.org.za

CATHSSETA

Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality & Sport

WEBSITE

CETA

Construction

(011) 265 5900

www.ceta.org.za

CHIETA

Chemical Industries

0860 244 382

www.chieta.org.za

ETDPSETA

Education, Training & Development

(011) 372 3300

www.etdpseta.org.za

EWSETA

Energy & Water

(011) 689 5300

www.ewseta.org.za

FASSET

Finance & Accounting

0861 101 0001

www.fasset.org.za

FOODBEV

Food & Beverages

(011) 253 7300

www.foodbev.co.za

FPMSETA

Fibre, Processing & Manufacturing

(011) 403 1700

www.fpmseta.org.za

HWSETA

Health & Welfare

0800 864 478

www.hwseta.org.za

INSETA

Insurance

0861 130 013

www.inseta.org.za

LGSETA

Local Government

(011) 456 8579

www.lgseta.co.za

MERSETA

Manufacturing & Engineering

086 163 7738

www.merseta.org.za

MICTSETA

Media, Information & Communication Technologies

(011) 207 2600

www.mict.org.za

MQA

Mining & Minerals

(011) 547 2600

www.mqa.org.za

PSETA

Public Sector

(012) 423 5700

www.pseta.org.za

SASSETA

Safety & Security SETA

086 110 2477

www.sasseta.org.za

SSETA

Services SETA

(011) 276 9600

www.serviceseta.org.za

TETA

Transport SETA

(011) 577 7000

www.teta.org.za

W&RSETA

Wholesale & Retail SETA

(012) 622 9500

www.wrseta.org.za

95

ACRONYMS
ABET............... Adult Basic Education and Training
ATR.................. Annual Training Report
CEP................. Communities of Expert Practice
CHE ................ Council on Higher Education
DHET............... Department of Higher Education & Training
DTI .................. Department of Trade and Industry
ETD................. Education, Training & Development
ETDP............... Education, Training and Development Practices
FET.................. Further Education & Training
HE(T)............... Higher Education (& Training)
HESA............... Higher Education South Africa
HR................... Human Resources
HSRC ............. Human Sciences Research Council
ICT .................. Information and communications technology
L&D.................. Learning and Development
N-programme . Nated/Report 191 Programme
NATED............. National Technical Education
NAMB ............. National Artisan Moderating Body
NC (V).............. National Curriculum (Vocational)
NDP ................ National Development Plan
NEDLAC ......... National Economic Development and Labour Council
NOPF............... National Occupational Pathways Framework
NQF................. National Qualifications Framework
NSA ................ National Skills Authority
NSC................. National Senior Certificate
NSDS............... National Skills Development Strategy
NSDS II ........... Second National Skills Development Strategy
NSDS III .......... Third National Skills Development Strategy
NSDS IV.......... Fourth National Skills Development Strategy
NSF ................ National Skills Fund
NSFAS............. National Student Financial Aid Scheme
OFO................. Organising Framework for Occupations

96

OLS................. Occupational Learning System

OQSF.............. Occupational Qualifications Sub-Framework
PIVOTAL ......... Professional, vocational, technical and academic learning
QCTO.............. Quality Council for Trades & Occupations
RPL.................. Recognition of Prior Learning
SABPP ............ South African Board for People Practices
SAQA............... South African Qualifications Authority
SARS .............. South African Revenue Service
SD.................... Skills Development
SDA ................ Skills Development Act
SDF................. Skills Development Facilitator
SDL.................. Skills Development Levy
SETA................ Sector Education & Training Authority
SSP................. Sector Skills Plan
TETA................ Transport Education & Training Authority
TVET............... Technical and Vocational Education and Training
WIL ................. Work-integrated learning
WSP................ Workplace Skills Plan

97

Version 0.1
Published 25 May 2015

OUTSIDE BACK
COVER
Contents:
ARTISAN DEVELOPMENT
ARTISAN DEVELOPMENT - FUNDING
ARTISAN DEVELOPMENT - HISTORY OF
NAMB - NATIONAL ARTISAN MODERATION BODY
SETA SECTOR - GRANT REGULATIONS, AMENDED
SETAS - FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING SERVICES SETA FASSET

98